Katsuki Bakugo had endured quite a long day. It was one of those days where, despite feeling constantly busy, he also felt as though he had accomplished almost nothing at all. After calling his mother and talking to Daisuke on the roof, he had chosen to linger atop the dormitory building for a while. Though he wasn't usually one to simply sit and think, he found himself questioning just about everything to do with relationships, romantic and otherwise, after his friend's admission. Parsing through more or less everyone in his life took far longer than he had realized, and around noon, Katsuki descended from the top of the building to go and find something that required little to no mental energy.

A tour of the campus killed time quite effectively while serving the dual purpose of keeping him away from his classmates. With the semester beginning in a matter of days, Katsuki had more or less free reign of the place while everyone else continued to unpack, socialize in the dorms, and deal with last-minute shopping. The pair of academic buildings he had seen only briefly during the written entrance exams was practically empty, and he spent a decent chunk of time simply wandering the halls and making note of where his classes would be according to his schedule. A quick stop into the final tower at U.A. University revealed it to be home to mostly entertainment… and Katsuki lost interest in the offerings very quickly.

Despite his disdain for the lavish and unnecessary offerings that he knew his classmates would spend entirely too much time with, there was one thing in the recreation building that caught Katsuki's eye. A full, expansive gym with far more equipment than the one at the bottom of the dormitory tower was open to all students and passerby alike, as were the combat training rooms stacked above it. Specialty equipment was readily available, as were electronic commission forms for any Quirk-related tools that one could think of. Upon finding out that anything and everything in the specialized training area was not only available for, but encouraged to be subjected to destruction, Katsuki spent quite some time testing his limits against what was readily available.

Again, more time had passed than Katsuki had intended. After thoroughly testing the repairing algorithm of the drones in the training area, his own limits, and the specialized gym equipment, he was utterly exhausted. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon by the time he made it back to his dorm, only to find the place unoccupied. Satisfied, he stripped down, wrapped himself in a towel, made his way to the bathroom, and began scrubbing himself clean of the sweat and grime he had accumulated. All in all, things were going quite well… until he returned to the dorm.

Not only was Eijiro inexplicably present, but Kyoka, Tsuyu, Juzo, and Amaya were gathered on the beds and couches as well. Katsuki stiffened as he walked in wearing only his towel, his hair still dripping softly onto his shoulders and chest. At Amaya's wolf whistle, he looked away scowled.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" Katsuki snapped. "And when did you get here? The dorm was clear ten minutes ago…"

"We just got back from a class meeting," Eijiro explained with a guilty grin. "You were invited, but you didn't answer your phone…"

Katsuki blinked, finding the explanation incredibly likely given how the day had gone.

"…I turned it off after a flood of messages about stupid shit a few hours ago…"

"Okay, a discussion about upcoming arena tours is not stupid," Kyoka insisted, sounding mildly offended. "There are a few good ones coming up and we were talking about who might be willing to go see a show together at some point this year."

"A lot of it was my fault," Tsuyu said sheepishly. Katsuki couldn't help but notice she was eyeing him up and failing miserably at being subtle about it. "I've never been to a concert before, so I had a lot of questions…"

Katsuki let out an annoyed snort before walking into the dorm proper and searching for a place to change. With a quick motion, he snatched the fresh set of clothing he had deposited upon his bed from beside Amaya and walked into the kitchenette to hide his lower body behind the countertop. Once he was satisfied that he was properly hidden and that some people weren't trying to peek over the barrier, he unwrapped his towel and began getting dressed.

"And you had a Class-level meeting about this. Because there aren't a million other more important things to figure out."

"What? No!" Eijiro denied with a wave of his hands. "Iida called a meeting to figure out some important things before classes start up!"

Katsuki paused midway through putting on a sock and locked eyes with Eijiro. Suddenly, the idea of cutting off communication amongst the group seemed like a very bad idea.

"…and this isn't something that could've been scheduled?" Katsuki pressed. "You all just went ahead and did it without me?"

"We've actually been trying to reach you all day," Juzo answered, his voice coming out somewhat distorted through his mask. "And given that we didn't hear from Hagakure either, we figured we should just go ahead and get it done. Otherwise, we might be waiting right up until classes start."

"Don't worry," Amaya reassured. "We took care of everything… and you got very lucky."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Katsuki asked. "And where the hell is Hagakure now?"

"You might as well ask where Bigfoot lives," Tsuyu replied, all pleasantness gone from both her tone and expression. "I've managed to talk to her once for about five minutes since we all moved in. I feel like I'm pretty much alone here, and she's supposed to be a class lead!"

"Did you talk about that bullshit with Iida?" Katsuki asked as he finished pulling on his socks and finally slipped into a pair of shorts. Comfortable with his distance from the others, he decided to lean on the counter rather than join them in the main area of the dorm. "And was Professor Aizawa there?"

"He wasn't, but boy did we talk shit about Hagakure," Amaya confirmed. "And by 'we' I mostly mean 'I.' Everyone else wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and walk on eggshells, but honestly? This is just fucking stupid. Look at how upset Tsu is, and how our team has been left high and dry with Iida having to manage everyone on his own while 1-B is more or less up and running downstairs. We're planning on sending a group of two or three to Aizawa tonight to get to the bottom of this."

Katsuki nodded, agreeing with the decision.

"And as for getting lucky?"

"We distributed chores and stuff for our floor," Eijiro began. "You know, cleaning, trash collection, mail distribution, doing inventory, that kind of thing. We made a big calendar and sign-up sheet to track everything… and I volunteered to alternate cleaning our bathroom with Daisuke. That was one of the last two jobs available, and we both decided to split it instead of forcing it on you. You just have to run the vacuum through the lounge once a week."

Katsuki paused to think for a moment. In all of his high school career, he really couldn't think of a single time someone had done him a favor in the same vein. Even Izuku, though pleasant, wasn't the type to step out and take a metaphorical bullet on his behalf when Katsuki wasn't even there. The two boys had an understanding that refusing to participate or shirking responsibilities came with consequences, and Katsuki himself had been the main proponent of enforcing them in order to foster discipline. Katsuki wouldn't have even minded being the one stuck with bathroom duty considering how often he took care of it at home, and yet, he found that he was actually incredibly grateful that someone else had stepped up. It wasn't just about the unpleasantness of the task- it was that two other people were ready and willing to tackle the incredibly necessary job despite the annoyance that came with it.

"…thanks…" Katsuki offered, the word leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated how annoyed he sounded when he said it, but he couldn't quite stop himself. Though he wasn't about to elaborate, Katsuki did have an idea to show his gratitude that didn't involve fumbling with his words and trying to explain why he always sounded so bitter. "But wouldn't it make more sense if you and I handled it? That way, we could keep all the supplies in here. Swap my name with Aki's on the roster. I'll handle it."

Eijiro looked incredibly confused as he stared at Katsuki… and he wasn't the only one.

"Dude… you sure? You just got out of cleaning toilets and you want to throw your name back in?"

"Don't question me," Katsuki snapped. "I have to take care of it at home anyway, so I'm used to it. Besides- instead of doing a rotation, you and I should just do it together. Get it done in half the time."

"…he's talking sense," Amaya pointed out. "Take him up on the offer before he backs out."

"Uh… yeah! Sure!" Eijiro said with a smile. "Guess you and I are in charge of keeping the place spotless, then! I'm sure Daisuke will appreciate it, too. He didn't seem all that enthusiastic about taking the job."

"And yet he did," Juzo reminded. "That says something. I'm not sure what, but something."

"I know what it says," Katsuki let on as he picked up his phone from the countertop to let his friend know of the development. "What did Hagakure get assigned?"

"Bathroom," Kyoka and Tsuyu said in unison.

"Yeah, we came to the conclusion of 'fuck Hagakure' pretty quickly," Amaya said proudly. "She can deal with that shit. Literally."

"…that's a terrible plan," Katsuki said, looking up from his message to Daisuke. "If she continues to be a no-show, do you really want the girls' bathroom to end up being a mess? Or for everything to fall on whoever the other person stuck with bathroom duty is?"

"That'd be me," Kyoka said with a sigh. "And… yeah, that's a good point. Anyone willing to switch, even temporarily, for the good of the order? Anyone other than Mineta?"

"Mineta?" Katsuki asked, not quite following.

"He volunteered to clean the girls' bathroom," Juzo said, sounding absolutely disgusted. "Then he tried to play it off as though it was an entirely innocent offer when people called him out."

"So, he's still up to his bullshit…" Katsuki muttered. "Figures. People don't fucking change…"

"The good ones do," Amaya protested as she raised a hand. "I'll do our bathrooms with you, Kyo. Hagakure can have trash duty."

"Thanks," Kyoka replied with a sigh of relief. "You're a life saver."

"It's literally the job."

"Too bad some people don't want to do theirs," Katsuki added as he received a text. When he glanced down, he found that it wasn't from Daisuke at all. "…shit. You people staying here?"

"We were just about to figure out what to do for food tonight," Eijiro explained. "We were thinking about all heading down to the food court as a group. Apparently it's open, and Amaya said it's pretty decent. Come with us!"

"My… mom is coming to drop some stuff off," Katsuki said as he tensed up, tapping out a reply to her message. "You guys go on ahead. I'll deal with this."

"…all in favor of meeting Bakugo's mom?" Kyoka asked before raising her hand.

Everyone present echoed her sentiment, save for Katsuki himself.

"Seriously? Why?"

"Curiosity," Tsuyu replied. "Besides, I'm sure we'll see most of each other's parents around here at some point. Might as well meet yours now."

"I wanna let her know her son is in good hands," Eijiro boasted. "C'mon, it'll be cool!"

"It will not be cool," Katsuki denied. "But you idiots aren't going to leave me a choice, are you?"

"Nope," Amaya confirmed. "Not a chance in hell. You're all going to be subjected to tons of shit from my dad, and probably embarrassing stories about me. I'm taking every chance I can get to even things out."

"Then let's get going," Katsuki mumbled as he pulled on a shirt and headed for the door. "I hate you all…"

Author's Note:

What could go wrong?

-RD