A/N: Urgh, slight filler, sorry. I appreciate everyone's patience while I navigate juggling this fic with my full-time job and impending baby (one more week till the third trimester let's goooo!) I am happy with a lot of parts of this chapter, at least, and I promise the plot's still gonna happen. Till then, enjoy some shipping...stuff, I guess. Also fun fact: the conversation between Bakugo and Yaoyorozu is actually heavily inspired by an exchange between myself and one of my male friends back in college. Both of us were going through some intense breakups and needed to vent, and it turned into an interesting back and forth where we let out more feelings than we were planning to lol. I like to use real life as inspiration sometimes, and I think it was necessary in this scene. As always, thank you so much for reading, and enjoy the chapter!

Their agreement to not engage with disparaging Yaoyorozu media turned out to be quite the monumental task. Nobody could even so much as scroll without getting hit by at least two different posts. Most of them, at this point, cycled through various rumors floating around that didn't have much backing. Strange that they'd push narratives to make the story juicier; the press conference footage already seemed damning enough. Did it really need more at this point?

"God, this is depressing." Uraraka remarked as she scrolled through Instagram.

"Tell me about it." Tsuyu echoed from her bed. "Poor Yaomomo. No wonder she hasn't left her room since yesterday."

When she got back, Yaoyorozu greeted her classmates brightly enough, refusing everyone's offers for comfort. Rather, she put on her brave face, thanked everyone, and told them it's been too long of a day. After that, no one saw her come out of her room, and no one worked up enough nerve to try and ask her if she was alright.

"God, I don't even know what to do or how to help." Uraraka lamented. "I wonder if–"

The sound of her ringtone cut her off. Ryukyu's name suddenly lit up her screen, which she immediately slid up on to answer.

"Ryukyu, hello!" She turned the phone on speaker, beckoning Tsuyu to listen in.

"Uravity, good to speak with you." Her mentor's tone sounded serious, too businesslike to ignore. "Can you get in touch with Froppy as well? This concerns both of you. If not, I'll call her later, but–"

"I'm here." Tsuyu announced herself. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, hello, Froppy. Are both of you free to talk?"

"We are." Uraraka exchanged a glance with Tsuyu, who shrugged in agreement. "How's Nejire? She doing okay?"

"Not…particularly." A heavy sigh could be heard through the phone. "Girls, I think Nejire is going to have to take a break from heroics for a bit."

Uraraka raised her eyebrows. With everything going on, that didn't particularly surprise her in theory, but actually hearing Ryukyu deliver that news felt…ominous.

"For how long?" Tsuyu asked, concern in her voice.

"It's hard to say." Ryukyu took another deep breath. "It's not a decision she made easily, I can tell you that much. Given her emotional state, I'm impressed she was rational enough to consider it at all."

Sadness pricked Uraraka at the thought of her friend suffering, disheveled and heartbroken by her loss. To be affected so greatly that she'd give up her dreams, the career she'd worked for her entire life, even temporarily stung to think about.

"Oh, Nejire." Tsuyu commiserated, trying her best to stay level headed. "Well, maybe a break will do her some good. Get some distance between her and the situation."

Everyone knew that wouldn't help. Whether Nejire continued her pro work or not, nothing would ever replace losing the love of her life. At this point, she needed to pause specifically for her career's sake; the more turmoil she suffered, the worse she got at her job. Right now, people were willing to give her a break, but that grace would only last so long. This was the best move, even if it wasn't the one Nejire wanted to make.

"I hope so." Ryukyu sounded genuine, even though she more than anyone understood Nejire's reasoning. "But, in light of this, I'm left without a primary sidekick, and the Hero's Gala is right around the corner."

Uraraka's stomach dropped at that realization. "Oh, that's right! I didn't even think about that. Oh, man, that's awful timing!"

"It is." Ryukyu's tone picked up a bit. "But it may work out for the best. After all, the gala is essentially UA's third year debuts, if I'm understanding correctly."

"That's how it was explained to us." Tsuyu nudged Uraraka gently.

"Then, if you're willing to accept, I'd like to offer both of you post graduate positions at my agency as full time sidekicks. I still want to hold a space for Nejire once she chooses to return, but I see no reason I can't take both of you on, starting with the gala."

The room began to spin, Uraraka losing focus on the conversation. Her arm suddenly became limp like a noodle to the point that Tsuyu had to snatch the phone from her hand and keep it held up.

"Ryukyu, are you serious?" Where Uraraka trembled with anxiety, Tsuyu erupted in excitement.

"I've given it enough thought." Ryukyu reassured her. "This was always the plan, truth be told. I'd just hoped to launch Nejire into her own pro career before enlisting the two of you. But things can absolutely be worked around, I'm not too concerned. Think it over and give me an answer by the end of tomorrow, does that sound good?"

"It does!" Tsuyu's voice jumped an octave. "Thank you, Ryukyu, we're so excited to work with you!"

Ryukyu let out a chuckle of amusement. "I'll take that as a good sign. Uravity, are you still there?"

A moment of silence passed and Tsuyu poked her friend, startling her back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, of course! Yeah, we'll let you know, Ryukyu." The professionalism dropped from her tone, stammering taking over.

"Sounds good to me." Understanding, Ryukyu allowed her the discomfort she clearly felt. "I'll circle back tomorrow."

They extended their goodbyes and ended the call, Uraraka's fingers too numb to press the 'end' button.

"You alright, Ochako?" Tsuyu patted her shoulder to try and bring her back to earth.

"I…think so." Uraraka bit her lip. "It's just…wow, you know?"

"I feel the same way, but I don't think it's for the same reason." Tsuyu had her friend pretty well figured out. "You don't seem nearly as excited as I feel."

Part of Uraraka wanted to feign enthusiasm. Act like these were just jitters masking her internal joy at this absolutely amazing opportunity. After all, this would be a huge break in both her and Tsuyu's careers; might very well set them up for life, if they played their cards right. From that perspective, she did feel grateful, and she certainly didn't want to let this chance go to waste by throwing it away. The nagging, sinking prickling inside of her, however, seemed to want differently.

"It's not that I'm not excited." She realized it as she spoke. "But this feels like we're replacing Nejire in a way, don't you think?"

At that, Tsuyu bowed her head. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't want to say it, but that's bugging me, too."

Okay, good. Knowing her friend felt the same way eased her mind a bit. Definitely not something she would have held against Tsuyu had she not understood, but them being on the same wavelength made the problem easier to talk about.

"Those are some massive shoes to fill." Uraraka rested a hand on her head. "Nejire's award-winning, you know? I'm a little worried we'll let Ryukyu down, while we're being put in the same position as her star pupil, and if Nejire feels some type of way about any of it…."

"I don't think that's what Ryukyu wants from us, though." Tsuyu spoke up after a moment.

Uraraka shifted to look at Tsuyu. "You think?"

"Yeah." Tsuyu nodded. "I mean, obviously she's gonna expect a lot from us, but nobody outright told us we have to be Nejire. We never will, and Ryukyu more than anybody would know that. I think she's challenging us more than anything."

"Challenging us?" Uraraka frowned.

"Maybe challenging isn't the right word." Tsuyu retracted, rising to a sitting position. "More that she's testing to see how we'll rise to the occasion and pick up the slack in Nejire's place. After all, that's gonna be our duty as heroes; if one of our comrades falls, we'll have to swoop in and patch things up where they couldn't."

Morbid as that sounded, Tsuyu had a point. Heroes fell in the line of battle everyday, sadly, and while their fellow pros had every right to be emotional about it, at the end of the day, they all had jobs to do. Lives were on the line, both hero and civilian alike, and most of a hero's duty is preserving as many of those lives as physically possible.

"That's true." Uraraka let out a sigh. "Do you think we're…ready to fill this gap, though?"

Tsuyu didn't answer right away. She chewed her lip, mulling over what to say.

"I don't want to say we aren't ready." She said slowly. "I guess no one's ever fully ready, when you think about it. We all kind of have to just get up and do it at some point, you know?"

That didn't sound reassuring. Quite the opposite, in fact. Uraraka trembled a bit, her own anxiety building on itself. Sensing this, Tsuyu reached for her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"But I know we can do it." She finished her thought calmly. "After all, what have we been training these last few years for?"

Unconvinced, Uraraka let her shoulders slump. "I guess you're right, from that angle. I don't know, I guess I just…don't want to let anybody down."

"You won't." Tsuyu insisted. "After everything you've been through, nobody would ever say you're not strong enough for this. I know I wouldn't."

Uraraka wanted to believe her, and maybe once she processed everything, she would. But for right now, her fears got the better of her, and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to burst out crying. Honestly, she didn't even know why the tears welled up in her eyes, it's not like the situation upset her to that point.

"We're all kind of dealing with a lot right now." Nothing got past Tsuyu Asui, that much was clear. "It's okay to cry. Or want to. I'm here, if you need me."

Smiling, Uraraka rested her head on Tsuyu's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her torso. "You're the best friend in the whole world, Tsu. I'm so lucky to have you."

Tsuyu returned the hug, snuggling her friend tightly. "We're lucky to have each other. Not a lot of pros stay close in the field."

"Well, then we've gotta stick together!" Uraraka's spirits lifted, relieving Tsuyu.

"It's a deal." Tsuyu promised, leaning her head on Uraraka's. "Starting off as Ryukyu's sidekicks?"

Uraraka sucked in a breath. "I'm still thinking on that. But if it helps, I'm leaning towards a yes."

"That does help." Tsuyu exhaled. "Just make sure it stays that way."

She didn't know for sure if it would. But Uraraka did know that she wanted to become a hero. And whether or not she was ready, the chance hovered just below her fingertips. Maybe she should take the leap. She'd figure that out later, she supposed.

XxXxXxX

How could she possibly show her face to anyone now?

Every single second of that conference had been dissected and overanalyzed by every social media drama page in existence, even as far as the US and Europe. Now people speculated on her family's possible motives for keeping certain things under wraps, questioning how anyone should believe them when they clearly had something to hide. All the kidnappings certainly didn't help their case, with many people now saying they suspected the Yaoyorozu's of having something to do with them and using Nagase as some kind of cover up.

The most stomach churning part for Yaoyorozu was, well, the fact that she agreed with the inquiries.

Obviously, she knew her family would never involve themselves in anything nefarious. They held themselves to such a high standard, she couldn't see kidnapping as a realistic possibility. But on the flip side, her parents' behavior at the press conference shifted her perspective a bit. Truth be told, they did behave like they were covering something up, first and foremost by dodging her questions about her former nanny.

That left her both confused and infuriated. She knew she remembered someone. It wasn't possible that she'd made her up. But why didn't her mother seem to share the same memories? And how could she shut that down so quickly?

A burst of anger forced Yaoyorozu to sit up, snatch her phone from her nightstand, and call one of her cousins to demand answers. None of them grew up at the estate, but surely one of them had to know something.

No, she realized once she'd actually opened her contacts. If she called one of them, not only would it be a potential waste of time, but her asking them about certain things would get back to her parents, guaranteed. Maybe she should call one of their old housekeepers, instead? Well, doing that would imply she had access to anybody's contact information. If she knew where to find that to begin with, there'd be no need to ask anybody anything. Squeezing her phone, frustrated tears spilled onto her cheeks, realizing she was, in fact, stuck.

The rational part of her brain knew she'd let her emotions dominate her perspective on the situation. She understood that. Despite the logic, however, she couldn't help but blame Todoroki for everything. Well, not blame him; he probably had nothing to do with the release of Nagase's records. In fact, realistically, there's no way he facilitated that. But the fact that he was aware of their relation somehow proved that he'd been made privy to information he had no right to know, and that by itself set Yaoyorozu off. The fact that his father's agency made her private business widespread only added fuel to that fire, so much so that she didn't even look at Todoroki once she'd returned to campus the previous day. In fact, she'd even ignored him when he called out to her. She was that upset.

Once again, her rational brain tried to talk her down, reminding her that him not being responsible for the situation should absolve him of her scorn. And truthfully, had it been anyone else in her class, she might have found a way to talk herself down from these tumultuous emotions. But Todoroki was someone she'd opened up to and trusted, someone she thought understood her life, a person she held dear in a way that hadn't occurred to her until she decided to cut him out–

Maybe a cup of tea would calm her down, she rationalized, throwing her bathrobe on over the T-shirt she'd slept in the night before. Atypical of her; normally, she engaged in a rigorous nighttime routine. Last night, she simply didn't have the energy.

Clearly, she also didn't have the stamina to make it to class, either. For the first time since she'd woken up, she realized she hadn't checked the time. Panicked, she unlocked her phone, groaning at the sight of the sad 10:54 AM staring back at her.

Well, there goes another day.

Okay, maybe not a whole day. But 11 AM was far too late to perform yoga, shower, execute skincare, cook a high-protein breakfast, and drink her morning tea with lemon. By the time she'd finished all of that, it'd be at least 12:30, and at that point she might as well have lunch, which meant she might as well wait until then, even though her stomach growled in protest at the thought. Gritting her teeth, she slumped back against her pillow. No matter what decision she made, she knew she'd feel thrown off, and that already made the day positively unbearable.

It started to feel like she couldn't escape moments like this. The overwhelming shame and frustration wrapping around a strange anxiety she didn't quite understand. Nothing in particular scared her; she just overall found everyday life terrifying for no good reason all of a sudden. Now, even something trivial like waking up too late sent her spiraling in a way she didn't have any control over. She wanted to believe that it wasn't for lack of trying, but truthfully, she couldn't say. What did trying look like in this situation?

At this point, she didn't know what to do. How could she explain this feeling to any of her friends when she had no understanding of it herself? Her parents refused her calls; they'd gotten too busy executing as much damage control possible. Honestly, that relieved her a bit. Even if they had time to answer her, she hadn't a clue how they'd handle all these tumultuous emotions.

Finally, hunger won above all else. None of her classmates should be downstairs, so she didn't worry about clothing herself in anything other than the silk cami and shorts pajama set she'd slept in. Frankly, she'd be hard pressed to even bother brushing her hair right now. Thank goodness the elevator took her down to an empty lounge–

–empty save for one lone Bakugo.

Yaoyorozu nearly backtracked, about to retreat into the elevator door and return to her floor when a slight sniffle caught her attention. Slowly, she turned, trying not to move otherwise for fear he'd notice her.

The blond sat doubled over on one of the couches, his hands gripping the spikes of his hair tight enough to whiten his knuckles. It looked like he, too, hadn't bothered to change into presentable attire, donning flannel sweats and a black tank top. In fact, the more Yaoyorozu observed him, the clearer it became just how much of a mess her classmate had become. Strange; this happened practically overnight, from her perspective. What happened to the arrogant ticking timebomb that screamed about blowing everyone up at the slightest inconvenience?

"Bakugo?" Her hand instinctively reached out for him, her feet making slow, hesitant steps toward the couch.

Jumping, his head whipped up, making her gasp at the sight. Bloodshot, puffy eyes spilled waves of tears running on tracks that looked to be hours in the making, mussed up hair implying the poor boy tangled it in his hands for just as long, and an expression of rage meeting pain made her feel nothing short of horrified.

"What?" His voice cracked. "What the hell do you want, Princess Bubblegum, huh?!"

What did she want? Originally, breakfast. Now, though, her appetite dissipated. Not completely, just enough to stave itself off while she figured out what exactly happened to her classmate.

"I'm…so sorry." She stopped walking. "You seem like…are you okay?"

"The hell does it look like?" Bakugo leapt to his feet, whirling on her ferociously. "God, is this a joke to you or something? You see someone crying and you think they're okay?! Seriously?!"

Yeah, that probably was a dumb question in hindsight. Biting her lip, she used the hand that reached out to him to grip her robe, unsure how to continue the conversation.

"This is such bullshit!" Bakugo had no problem continuing, so she let him. "I find one person, the one person I can trust with anything, and they just…take her away! What kind of shit is that, huh? Leaving me so I can just sit here without any way to do anything about it!"

He turned back around, his hands gripping the coffee table. Panicked, Yaoyorozu's body finally found an action to take, scrambling toward him and grabbing his arms before he flipped the entire thing over.

"Now just hold on!" Her class rep voice took over. "I know you're upset, I get that. But demolishing school property is–"

"Just make another one, little miss "creation" or whatever!" The blond snapped, snarling in her face.

Yeesh. He could have at least found time to brush his teeth.

"No. There's no reason for this." Using every bit of strength she'd mustered from her training, she yanked his wrists back.

Normally, she might not have had much luck restraining someone as strong and stubborn as Bakugo. Lack of sleep took enough of a toll on him to weaken his muscles, and in an instant, she had him pulled from the coffee table and sitting back down on the couch, both of them trembling slightly.

"Listen." She took a deep breath and settled down beside him. "I don't know what you're going through, but–"

"You think?!" He turned to her again, though this time growling instead of yelling. "I'm walking around with no idea who I can trust, the most insane shit I've ever seen just casually tearing my life apart, and I can't even talk to the only person I want to see more than anything, and you want to act like you can relate to any of this at all?! Get a grip, damn you!"

Oh, wow. Maybe she could tackle this.

"Now hold on." She raised her voice, agitation fueling her. "Just because our problems aren't exactly the same doesn't mean I can't understand. I trusted somebody, too, and now–"

"Now what? You've lost them forever?" Bakugo sounded skeptical.

It sounded like the person in Bakugo's situation died, which was absolutely not the case for Yaoyorozu. However, the trust she'd invested in someone did die out the moment he betrayed her, and while she couldn't speak to the exact experience, it felt like that could be just as painful to deal with.

"I…did." She gazed down at her knees. "Not physically, but…emotionally. I don't think I can ever open up to him again."

Bakugo probably wouldn't accept this. Knowing him, he was about to turn it all back on himself, yell some more, maybe call her an idiot before storming off to his room. And honestly? She didn't blame him. After all, it sounded like he had way bigger problems than that of a sulking heiress.

Which is why him grabbing her hand surprised her.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Widening her eyes, she nodded, trying to collect her thoughts after fully preparing herself not to speak again.

"I just feel like…I have no control over anything now." She explained carefully.

"Like no matter what you do, it all means nothing." Bakugo echoed her sentiments.

"And nobody…nobody's letting me do anything about it." A bit of anger surfaced at that realization.

Bakugo squeezed her hand in agreement. "Exactly! Because everyone else knows better, right? You're just some kid who needs to trust the stupid process or…whatever."

"Ugh, yes!" She squeezed his hand back, excitement welling up in her despite the seriousness of the conversation. "I feel like I have…no one to confide in, I can't fix anything that's happening, and everyone seems hellbent on making me feel stupid at every turn!"

"Goddammit, and even if you try, you can't fix it, can you?" More tears stung Bakugo's eyes.

"I really can't." Yaoyorozu scooted a bit closer to him, sympathy dictating her actions. "And it sounds like you can't either, and I'm so sorry because…I wish you could. I wish I could. Truly, Bakugo."

He hung his head again, stifling a sob that she pretended not to hear. Swallowing, she tightened her grip on his hand, unsure how else to help. Verbal reassurance probably wouldn't help, though she noted that Bakugo didn't pull away from her. That must mean something she did had an impact.

"I wish you could, too." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I wish anybody in the world could tell me where Camie is."

Yaoyorozu perked up. "Camie? You mean…the Utsushimi girl?"

Bakugo flinched, realizing the corner he'd put himself in.

"I, uh–"

"We don't have to talk about it!" Yaoyorozu quickly insisted, not wanting to upset him further. "It's fine, I'm just…surprised."

Borderline shocked, but Bakugo didn't need to know that. At least, not right now.

"No." Bakugo glared down at the coffee table. "I'm the one who let it slip. But it's not like it matters, the police got nothing from my testimony, so I can say what I want."

Yaoyorozu wasn't positive that's how things worked, but she didn't question him.

"Camie's my girlfriend." Simple, to the point, matter of fact. "She's too good for everyone and everything and I…love that about her."

Bakugo loving anybody absolutely astounded Yaoyorozu. Feeling that way seemed a little offensive, though, and she tried her best to wrap her head around it despite the absolute bewilderment threatening to expose itself through her expression, which she fought to keep neutral.

"Yeah, I know." He kept his voice level, though a bit of an edge crept in. "Crazy that I could love somebody, right?"

"What? No!" Flustered, Yaoyorozu shifted in her spot. "I-I'm sorry, I just…wasn't expecting that."

"Nobody is." The edge darkened in his tone, startling her a bit. "I know who I am and what I act like, Hedgehog Hair, it's fine. Everyone can feel whatever they want about it. But I have an actual heart, and it's not easy for someone to win it over. So Camie…she's special. I mean, she's gotta be. How did she look at me, of all people, and say 'yeah. That guy?' It's crazy. I don't believe it, either, sometimes."

Yaoyorozu tried her best not to be stuck on 'Hedgehog Hair' and listen to him. Because frankly, he did make some valid points.

"So what happened to you?" He spoke up after a moment. "Who the hell gave you trust issues or whatever?"

Oh, crap. Bakugo having a girlfriend threw her off so hard, she'd momentarily forgotten about her own problems.

"Oh, um." She bit her lip, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's…definitely not as important as what you're going through, I just–"

"What, the metal guy dumped you or something?"

Awase? How did she manage to literally forget all about him? Shame flushed her cheeks, realizing she should be paying way more attention to her supposed boyfriend than Todoroki and the effect he'd been having on her. Had she even texted him in the last twenty-four hours? Panicked, she yanked her phone from her robe pocket, frantically skimming her messages.

"N-no, he didn't–"

No messages from him, either. Huh. That's odd.

"Dude, what are you stringing that guy along for?"

Bakugo's words stabbed her straight in the chest, her body involuntarily jolting. Why? Why did she take that so personally? She wasn't stringing Awase along; she didn't even know what that meant in this context.

"Stringing him along?" Yaoyorozu let out a nervous chuckle, unsure how else to respond. "What do you mean? I'm not…we just…I don't have a lot of time for our relationship right now, there's a lot going on, and I'm just–"

"I haven't talked to Camie in weeks and I've done nothing but try and find her." He replied simply, not looking at her. "There's no reason for a relationship to get put on the back burner. Not if you really care."

Offended, Yaoyorozu set her phone down, crossing her arms indignantly. "This is a completely different situation, Bakugo, I'm not–"

"You're right. You're both still here." Quiet anger tinged his tone, stinging Yaoyorozu as he spoke. "Neither one of you is worried sick looking for the other one night and day. You have a way to contact each other. See each other, even, goddamn it. So tell me why you can't be bothered to text the guy in between your family's whiny little press conferences?"

Because she hadn't even thought about him. Until Bakugo brought him up, he didn't cross her mind one time. She'd spent practically all night ready to throw something over Todoroki, yet Awase somehow didn't fit into that mix.

Well, she hadn't been angry with Awase. That's really it. Right now, she experienced a lot of negative emotions, and that's not something she associated Awase with. Though, now that she'd been confronted with the question, admittedly she hadn't pinned down what emotions she did associate him with.

"I'm…going through a lot." Her reasoning sounded much weaker than her thoughts made it seem. "And he's…not part of the negative associations I have with the situation. I don't intend to neglect him, I'm just–"

"You just aren't into him." Bakugo cut her off icily. "It'd be a lot easier to just admit that than dance around it with all this bullshit. You're starting to piss me off for real now."

Widening her eyes, Yaoyorozu shrank back a bit. Responses attempted to form in her head, trying to shoot back that Bakugo was wrong, but blanks kept coming up every time she opened her mouth. Why couldn't she defend herself or her relationship?

Was Bakugo…right?

"I'll catch you later, Ponytail." He jumped to his feet. "Gonna go punch something or…whatever. Have fun figuring your shit out."

Absolutely despicable. How dare he speak to her like that? Especially after she'd given him an ear. She understood he was going through something, but that didn't give him the right to treat people harshly.

Staring down at her phone, though, she couldn't help but concede he'd made some points that struck a chord with her. She hadn't a clue what to do about it, but she did have a better understanding of how she'd been treating her partner. Or, rather, her lack of treatment toward him. She'd given someone else so much more of her attention than him, and he didn't deserve that.

On the flip side, though, she didn't know how to fix it. Did this mean she needed to talk to him more? Text him all the time like Sero did with Tokage? Should one of them be spending the night in the other's dorm every night, like Ojiro and Hagakure did? Which couple should she be imitating, here, anyway?

The questioning left her with a growing headache. Well, she could always deal with this after she'd at least eaten something. In fact, trying to work this out on an empty stomach sounded unnecessarily cruel to her already splintering mental state. Food, then boys. That's what her life motto should be from here on out, she thought with a smirk.

XxXxXxX

"Okay, so purple, or black? Ooh, or we could do pink, if that's not already taken!"

Jiro had somehow entered the Twilight Zone in the past twenty-four hours. Whiplash met her at every turn, her inability to keep up preventing her from fully immersing herself in each moment she'd normally be relishing in. Kaminari had one, actually asked her to the gala and two, proven he cared significantly more than Jiro ever would have assumed about appearances.

Seriously. Way, way more.

"Uh, I think…Uraraka, you're wearing pink, no?" Jiro turned to her brunette friend.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, that's what I picked!" She perked up and nodded.

"Damn, Midoriya, and you're just cool with that?" Mineta turned to Deku disgustedly.

Deku, however, didn't even pick up on his muddied tone. "Of course! Ochako looks great in pink, and I can always wear a neutral tie or something."

Uraraka cuddled up to his arm. "Aww, you're so sweet, babe!"

"Ick." Mineta turned back to his salmon, cringing.

Kaminari pulled up a list on his phone, deleting something as he spoke. "Pink's out then, so that leaves purple and black! What are you thinking, Jiro? We've gotta decide soon, I think your dress shopping day's coming up!"

Yeah, that. So that's what Jiro meant by being transported to another dimension. Just yesterday, Kaminari had been absolutely thirsting over the prospect of finding some hot chick to score a date with for the gala. Then, in the past twelve hours for seemingly no reason at all, he'd completely switched gears. Rather than focus on finding someone to bang, he'd asked her to be his date, actually got excited when she said yes, and now committed so hard to the bit he had done nothing but narrow down color schemes and styles since that morning.

Nice as it was, Jiro couldn't wrap her head around it. Him asking her out as friends actually didn't surprise her all that much; she figured if it came down to the wire, he'd rather go with her than one of his guy friends. And since she wasn't getting another date, it did kind of make sense for them to go together. What confused her was just how into the process he'd gotten. Like, why did the difference between violet and plum matter so much all of a sudden?

"I'm…really not sure." She spun her noodles on her fork awkwardly. "Honestly, you sure you don't want to just decide?"

"I can, but I want it to be our decision, you know?" Kaminari smiled at her. "You and me. After all, it's your dress color that matters more, I can do just about anything with a tie. You're the one who has to…be pretty."

Pretty? Against all her female peers? That sounded like mission impossible on a good day.

"Right, well, since that's out the window, I guess a dress color isn't gonna save me."

Kaminari frowned, confusion washing over him. "What do you mean?"

Now didn't sound like the best time to trauma dump. Besides, Kaminari wouldn't understand what it's like to be surrounded by classmates that out-beautied him by a long shot. In fact, as far as Jiro was concerned, Kaminari had somehow managed to be the best looking guy in the bunch. Most of it came from his personality, something a lot of people didn't consider regarding attractiveness, though physically, he measured up quite nicely between his forever perfect hair and adorable smile and–

What the hell was her brain doing?!

"U-uh, I–"

"You're wasting your time, man."

Mineta the menace strikes again.

"I am? On what?" Kaminari always sounded so sincere whenever he asked questions, Jiro wondered if the guy had any concept of context clues.

Then again, she also wanted to hear what Mineta had to say.

"Jiro doesn't give two shits about how she looks." Mineta didn't even look up from his food as he tore Jiro's entire identity to shreds. "You've seen her on our off days. Trying to get her to wear a skirt is like asking a dog to walk on its hind legs. It's possible in theory, but have you ever seen it happen? And if it did, wouldn't it be the weirdest thing in the world to see? These are the questions you gotta ask yourself, man."

Normally, Jiro wouldn't have paid the grape goblin any mind whatsoever. Even now, she grappled a bit with the idea of not taking him totally seriously. However, on some level, what he said bothered her because, well, he was kind of right. At least, as far as the way she presented herself went. He couldn't possibly know that she didn't care what she looked like (because that he was painfully wrong about) but on the outside, it made sense that he'd say something like that based on her dressing habits.

"Dude, what the hell are you trying to say here?" This time, Kaminari didn't sound confused. His tone actually had much more bite, enough to startle Jiro a bit.

"I'm saying if you wanted to pick a good dress color, you should've asked out one of the pretty girls."

Mineta didn't even flinch. Jiro cringed, the comment hitting her harder than she'd expected, her throat suddenly too dry to try and come up with some sort of retort. Unfortunately, she had to agree with him, ultimately; Kaminari should have asked out someone better than her. And frankly, he could do so much better than her. Not that they'd agreed to an official date or anything, this was all purely as friends, but it still stung her nonetheless.

"For your information," Kaminari gripped the table harshly, "I asked out the girl I wanted to go with! And if you have some kind of problem with that, just remember that at the end of the day, I have a date and you don't!"

"You're really calling this a date?" Mineta cocked an eyebrow. "Come on, man, you know this doesn't actually count, right?"

Jiro had heard quite enough. Taking a deep breath, she controlled her emotions long enough to turn to Kaminari with a neutral expression.

"I've…got some homework to catch up on. I'll see you later."

Covering her mouth, she snatched her tray and scurried off, ignoring the sounds of Kaminari calling after her. In her flurry, she'd accidentally tossed her ceramic soup bowl in the trash, but UA could afford another one of those stupid things, she was sure. Right now, she once again needed to flee the emotional flood that for some reason always hit her whenever she hung out with Kaminari these days.

XxXxXxX

From the next table over, Shinso noticed her running off, the sight of Kaminari reaching out for her and looking dejected telling him everything he needed to know.

"Jesus." Monoma raised his eyebrows beside him. "Straight people, am I right?"

Cue bombastic side eye.

Not that this surprised Shinso, but this was the first actual admission of not being heterosexual Shinso had gotten out of Monoma. He debated questioning it, not wanting to out him further but also desperate to know more.

"What?" Monoma took a bite of chicken and grinned. "You hadn't figured it out by now? I'm surprised you couldn't smell it on me."

"I…didn't want to make any assumptions." Shinso clarified.

"Really?" Monoma sneered, turning back to his food. "You'd be the first, then. Hell, my parents clocked my gay ass back in middle school. They didn't do me the favor of letting me know, of course, apparently I needed the hell of sexual confusion to build character or something."

Shinso bit his lip to suppress a grin. "What character development? The worst?"

Monoma gasped, feigning offense. "I resent that! You may not like it, but you can't deny I'm one memorable bastard. After all the years I've spent becoming the phantom of UA High, you don't think–"

"I never said I didn't like it."

That stopped him, just like Shinso knew it would. Now that he'd gotten to know him better, Shinso developed a pretty solid idea of what he could do or say to throw Monoma off. Generally, his rule of thumb was the more he could act like Monoma, the more Monoma wouldn't know what to do. Classic example of being able to dish it but not take it.

"You…stop doing that!" Monoma tossed a balled up napkin at Shinso.

"Doing what?" Shinso leaned against the table, grinning. "I'm just eating my lunch. Don't know what you're mad about."

Rolling his eyes, Monoma focused instead on eating. Shinso studied him for a moment; the way his nose turned red with embarrassment, his refusal to make eye contact, how he started shoveling food into his mouth as an excuse not to talk. He grinned a little at the sight, though he didn't entirely understand why. Something about Monoma being flustered was…endearing.

"How did you figure it out?" He couldn't resist asking.

Chewing more aggressively, Monoma side-eyed him for a second. "That counts as a question."

"Sure, fine, whatever." Shinso shrugged. "I still get to ask."

"Ugh." Monoma sat up straighter, setting down his chopsticks. "It's a long, stupid story."

"So is this fanfic. Come on, I'm not getting any younger."

Monoma presented himself as such an open, unmysterious person, it never crossed Shinso's mind that he'd have something to hide. Everyone has their secrets, he supposed, and judging by the look on his house arrest buddy's face, this is one he contemplated sharing. The mischievousness left Shinso's body immediately, replacing itself with concern and a little bit of guilt.

"Actually, I…you don't have to–"

"I had sex with a girl."

Oh. Okay, so they were doing this.

…Wait, what did he say?

"You…did?"

Once he'd processed what Monoma said, none of it computed. He'd dropped that knowledge way too casually, making Shinso wonder if he considered what he'd just said a big deal at all. Probably not, since he went back to nonchalantly eating chicken.

"You're shocked?" Monoma asked after a moment.

That's an understatement.

"Not…I mean, I'm not, I just…why would you go to those lengths?"

He didn't mean to sound disgusted when he said that. Women certainly didn't repulse him, and the idea of sleeping with one more scared him than grossed him out. But to do all that just to figure out whether or not you like women sounded a bit extreme to him. Then again, he might just feel that way because it's not the route he'd taken.

That's only something he'd bring up if Monoma asked, though.

"I mean, I didn't do it specifically to find out if I was gay." Monoma shrugged. "I sort of…figured it out along the way, if you will."

Shinso blinked. "Explain."

"Uh…" Monoma looked around, noting the onslaught of other students hovering at nearby tables. Nobody appeared to be listening, but he didn't want to take any chances. "Not here, okay? Later."

"You can't just use another postpone, you know, you've already got one–"

"I'm not!" Monoma waved his hands in protest. "I can literally tell you tonight or something. I just don't want to talk about it while there's a bunch of people around. It's not just my privacy you're invading here, you know."

Immediately, Shinso felt like a jerk. At the end of the day, Monoma wasn't required to be sharing any of this with him at all. The fact that he'd been willing to say as much as he already did should be enough for Shinso. He understood that, truly, but something in him wanted to–needed to know–what happened here. He couldn't quite place why, of course, because nobody in this story is capable of working through their feelings, though he did acknowledge this strange curiosity to be irrational.

"Of course." He gave Monoma an apologetic head bow. "Tell me in your own time. I'm sorry to be pressing you–"

"Oh, save it, emo boy. You're a closet gossip and that's totally fine." Monoma grinned mischievously. "In fact, it's a requirement if you're going to be my friend."

Shinso sat up and blinked. "Does that mean…are we friends?"

Monoma half shrugged, returning to his food. "That counts as a question."

"Oh, fuck off."

XxXxXxX

If Todoroki had known getting dirt on his classmates would cause his father to avoid him like the plague, he'd have dug up some secrets years ago.

Since the release of that God forsaken TikTok. Endeavor hadn't called back, answered, or even viewed a single one of Todoroki's texts. Bothering Fuyumi turned out to be pointless, as she knew less than Todoroki himself did. She swore up and down she'd try to find out what she could, but clearly Endeavor suspected as much, practically cutting Fuyumi out almost to the point he'd been icing out Todoriki. For that, Todoroki did feel a bit bad; he may not want a relationship with their father, but Fuyumi certainly did. It wasn't fair for her to get dragged into this just to suffer.

"I just don't understand why he would do something like this!" Furious, he launched his house slippers against the wall of the lounge.

"Maybe he has some sort of reason he's not telling us for…another good reason?" Something Fuyumi had suggested a million times, yet Todoroki refused to buy it.

"No, this is some kind of ploy." Todoroki insisted. "It has to be. He did this to hurt the Yaoyorozu's, I just need to know why, damn it!"

Gala practice had been canceled for their group today, likely due to Yaoyorozu's fragmented mental state, so that left Todoroki in a pretty much empty dorm building. Thus, he'd decided to scream his head off in the lounge, knowing he wouldn't be interrupted, keeping Fuyumi on speaker so he could throw things as he pleased.

"Shoto, is everything alright?" Fuyumi sounded concerned. "I've never heard you this angry before, I…what's going on?"

What was going on? Back when the press conference aired, Todoroki managed to keep his cool flawlessly, putting on a level-headed facade so his classmates would follow suit. It wasn't until Yaoyorozu came back, looking tired, broken, and thoroughly confused that the rage set in. She hadn't spared him a passing glance, which he didn't blame her for; in fact, he appreciated that she recognized his family was responsible for this. It didn't even matter that she'd iced him out along with them. He'd find a way to track down Endeavor and make him pay for putting that forlorn expression on Momo Yaoyorozu's beautiful face.

Oh, okay. That's what was going on.

"What's going on?" Todoroki half laughed once he digested the question. "How about the fact that our dad's done nothing but ruin everyone's life, huh? We can't get close to anybody without him…I don't know, cursing them or something!"

"Shoto!" Fuyumi scolded him. "I know our family's had their issues, but–"

"Because of him!" Todoroki roared, unable to control himself. "Because he can't let any of us be happy! Wake up, Fuyumi, haven't you noticed that the closer we get to him, the worse it feels to just exist?!"

The other line went quiet for a second. Todoroki stopped, worried his sister had disconnected the call. It wasn't like her to hang up on people, but she also didn't seem to stand for persecution against Endeavor.

Thankfully, after a deafening silence, he heard her take a deep breath. "Shoto, I get how you feel. I really do. And I wish…I wish I had the answers you're trying to find here. The truth is, I don't understand our dad at all. If I did, I'd explain it all to you, and I'd…make everything he's ever done go away…but I can't…."

A catch in her voice stopped Todoroki in his tracks. She's crying, he realized. Horrified, he settled down on the couch, trying to figure out how best to comfort her.

"Sis, it's okay." He lowered his voice awkwardly. "It's not your fault–or your responsibility to fix things. I know you just want everyone to be happy."

"I'm sorry, Shoto." She sniffled, clearing her throat. "Oof, don't know what came over me there. I guess I just got a little overwhelmed, is all. Nothing to worry about."

But he did worry. At least, now he did. In all his years, Todoroki couldn't remember the last time he'd seen or even heard of Fuyumi crying. He associated his sister with much more positive emotions, such as cheerfulness or nonchalance. Things definitely must get her down, that much he'd pieced together based on his knowledge that his sister was not, in fact, a robot, but since he'd never seen it himself, it didn't fully conceptualize in his mind until just now that she, too, might be suffering through all this.

And that made him feel like the shittiest brother in the world.

"You have every right to be overwhelmed." He assured her calmly. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. You shouldn't have to deal with all my crap just because I don't have Dad to yell at. I'm sorry, Fuyumi, I really am."

"Oh, Shoto, you're totally fine!" Even if it wasn't, she'd still insist nothing was wrong. "Honestly, I like hearing what's going on in your head. I'm actually curious about something, if you want to talk about it."

After making her cry, Todoroki decided to be willing to talk about anything. "Sure, what's up?"

"Why…what about this is making you so upset?"

Todoroki frowned. "What do you mean? He exposed the business of someone he had no right to mess with, and–"

"Who's that?"

"...Yaoyorozu. Or, the Yaoyorozu family, they're–"

"And you're close with their daughter?"

Not these days. In fact, since she and Awase started dating, Todoroki couldn't remember the last time he'd so much as spoken to Yaoyorozu. At least, not during some sort of confrontation about this specific situation. But before that? Yeah. He'd considered her a good friend. Someone he felt close to.

Someone he thought about a lot.

Pretending did him no good. He knew how he felt. He'd come to understand it a long time ago. This wasn't some poignant realization or dramatic confession that would rattle the very foundations of his life. Rather, if he said it out loud, all he'd be doing is verbalizing what already plagued his mind everyday, and probably had since the day he met Momo Yaoyorozu.

"Shoto? Are you–"

"I'm in love with her, actually."

The gasp Fuyumi released could only be described as inhuman. Even on speaker phone, Todoroki had to lean back from the noise emitting from the other line, as his sister chose to follow up her gasp of shock with a bunch of loud, excited squealing.

"No way! With Momo Yaoyorozu?! Oh, Shoto, she seems absolutely perfect, I mean, I don't really know her all that well, but–wait! Was she the girl you wanted to ask to the gala?"

Smirking, Todoroki picked up the phone from the coffee table. "She was."

"So! How did that work out?!"

Fuyumi's sadness completely evaporated, something Todoroki relaxed about. Not to mention the weight of actually telling someone, anyone how he felt alleviated a lot of the anger he'd built up over the last few days. His father still sat at the very top of his shit list, but at least now he had a distraction. One that he found he actually enjoyed so far; maybe he should open up to Fuyumi more often.

"Well, another guy beat me to it, and she's dating him now." He explained stoically.

"What?" Fuyumi's tone deflated. "Oh, Shoto, that sucks, I'm so sorry–"

"Oh, no, I let him win." Todoroki clarified, though sadness poked at him as he relayed the story. "I…kind of realized I wasn't good enough for her. And I think I already told you how much I don't want our dad affecting my relationships. Even with the two of us not being a couple, he still found some way to hurt her. I can't imagine what might have happened had I actually succeeded at asking her out."

As he explained, his shoulders involuntarily slumped. The hurt that everything he'd been trying to protect Yaoyorozu from still somehow got to her weighed on him, the guilt pressing against his chest so much it suddenly felt hard to breathe. He sucked in a breath, tears springing to his eyes. Already, he regretted admitting his love for her. He had no right to feel this way about her after everything he'd put her through.

"Wow." Fuyumi spoke after a pause Todoroki didn't realize happened. "That's…a lot to unpack."

"Yeah." He cringed a bit at himself. "Sorry, sis, I just–"

"Oh, no, don't apologize!" She cut him off. "There's a lot going on right now, and it's understandable that you have a lot of feelings about it. But I hope you know that you're absolutely good enough for any girl you're interested in, and you shouldn't let stuff like this get in your way of being happy."

"That's sweet, but it's not my happiness I'm concerned about." Todoroki rested his forehead in his hand, letting the tears spill down his cheeks. "It's hers. I'd do anything to fix this, I just…I know I can't…."

Todoroki had never been much of a crier. Most emotional reactions got beaten out of him through his father's training regiments. Suppression became a survival mechanism, and it had been instilled in him at such a young age, at this point in his life it was instinctive to push his feelings down. That said, he wasn't a robot, and even though expressing himself could be difficult, he certainly found it to be possible.

Especially right now.

"God, I think I understand how Bakugo feels." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Bakugo?" Fuyumi sounded confused. "Your friend with the spiky hair?"

"Yeah." Todoroki let out a sniffle. "His girlfriend is one of the kidnapping victims, and–"

"What?!" Fuyumi gasped again. "Oh, my God, Shoto! What's going on over there? Are you guys okay?"

Oh, right, everything happening was actually insane. From an outside perspective, he could see why Fuyumi would be horrified.

"Sis, I promise we're fine." Still caught up in his emotions, Todoroki let out a sigh. "I'd let you know if we weren't, okay?"

Fuyumi swallowed audibly. "Alright, just…stay safe, okay? We can't have you getting hurt."

Who's 'we?' He was tempted to ask, but at this point, he didn't have it in him to start another conversation. In fact, he chewed his lip trying to think of a way to tactfully end the phone call without hurting his sister.

"I'll try." He managed after a moment.

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "Alright, Shoto, I'm gonna let you go for now, but I'm calling you again tomorrow, okay? Take some time to process your emotions tonight."

Whatever that meant, sure. "Yeah, sounds good."

"I love you. I'll talk to you soon."

"Love you, too. Bye."

Finally able to fully sit in his depression, Todoroki let out something between a sigh and a grumble, fresh tears sliding down his face. Every time he talked about or even thought about Yaoyorozu, it brought on a wave of emotions too strong for him to deal with. Lately, he'd done what he could to curb the intense reactions, but now that he'd admitted his feelings, he knew he couldn't hide anymore.

"I love her." He murmured into his hand. "God, I really do love her, don't I?"

XxXxXxX

Little did he know, someone lurked in the kitchen on the outskirts of his conversation. Someone who knew for a fact they weren't meant to hear what had just been confessed. A girl who'd pinned herself to the wall to keep from being spotted, clutching her chest and struggling to contain her breathing from all the emotions swirling around within her.

"Todoroki…" Yaoyorozu exhaled once he'd left the room.

Before she could fully register the volume of everything, her phone lit up with a text. She almost didn't check, uninterested in what anyone else had to say. But if she didn't stay up to date, she might miss something important from her parents. Thankfully, no updates to the situation; just a quick, somewhat ominous message from the person she was supposedly dating.

Awase: Hey, we need to talk soon.