Chapter Text
“No boys allowed.” I stopped Katsuki and Eijirou at the entrance to the dressing room, grasping Ashido by her forearm to drag her in behind me. True to form, she stuck out her tongue and pressed an L to her forehead in defiance as she followed me, Katsuki blustering in the doorway as if held back by an invisible barrier, “Go set up for your show! I won’t miss it, promise.”
“This is fuckin’ ridiculous. Make sure you’re covered the fuck up, at least!” He puffed his cheeks in a furious pout. Jealousy was written all over his face and I almost felt bad, but he had to learn how not to be soo...
I gave him a wave before shutting the door on him- he’d just get in the way here anyway.
“He sure is protective.” The pink haired object of Eijirou’s affections commented, laughing mischievously. I instantly liked her upon meeting her. It was hard not to, what with the warm, sunshiney acceptance and easy humor about her. I also liked that she was just as warm and welcoming to Katsuki as she was to me, even though I could tell from his demeanor that he found her to be a bit too much. Maybe I was the protective one. I mean, I’d basically threatened Midoriya when I thought he’d thrown their practical exam to allow Katsuki to get beaten bloody and I really didn’t like it when others commented on his temper. The longer I knew him, the more I’d come to realize that that was just… him. Sure, he definitely needed to work on reining in some of his more explosive blow ups, but I’d never actually seen him do more than hit Midoriya in an arena. He was mostly bark. And honestly, he’d already gotten so much better. Ever since our run in with the LoV, he’d been far more reserved with his classmates and I didn’t even know if I liked him, well, losing his spark.
As for Mina, she was pretty, tall and well-endowed. Her eyes crackled with an energy that suited Eijirou perfectly. Maybe I could make it up to him for stealing his date for a while and figure out what she thought of him.
“More like possessive.” I rolled my eyes, smiling at her, “That’s just who he is.”
“And yet you still chose to do something you knew would piss him off.” She observed astutely, looking over to Daichi who was beckoning me to a vanity with my name on it.
“Oh, come on. You know everything pisses him off.” I shrugged, “I’m not trying to, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“There’s my star! You know, this never would have worked with Kendo.” The upperclassman apparently gave Ashido pause, because she trailed behind me as we approached. To be fair, I hadn’t planned to bring along Katsuki’s female classmate, but considering I couldn’t let him near this without risking him ruining everything, I thought it might make him feel a bit better.
“Considering this is an archaic tradition meant to put women and girls in competition with each other for the enjoyment of men? Yes, I could see why he wouldn’t be able to abuse it like I plan to.” I agreed, sitting down in the chair, “Everything’s ready, right?”
“Well, not everything…” Daichi’s face pulled sadistically, “I know you said no dresses but I’m afraid our intentions will be obvious if you don’t fully participate in the event.”
I grimaced as he brandished a whirl of orange chiffon at me. I really didn’t appreciate how many people had been trying to stuff me into fancy dresses lately, but I supposed this had been my idea.
“Oooh!” Ashido squealed, delighted at the dress, “That’s gorgeous!”
“It is quite something, isn’t it? Chiyo-chan pulled it from the haul that Bakugou-san’s mother spoiled her with a few weeks ago.” Is that where he’d gotten that thing from? But of course, Chiyo would be involved with this. She had to be lurking somewhere around here.
“Yes! Gosh, makes me just want to pin butterfly wings to you.” She snatched the dress from Daichi’s hands, making me instantly regret having brought her into the green room with me. I blanched at the possibility of her mentioning my sempai’s presence in a room that I had told Katsuki didn’t allow for the opposite gender.
“I had just the same idea!” Daichi gushed alongside her. Had he always been so frivolous? At least I didn’t need to go through the process of doing my makeup again.
“No.” I made an x with my hands, “I draw the line at the dress. This is already humiliating enough, don’t you think?”
“Humiliating? You could win this thing for sure!” Ashido encouraged, thrusting the dress against my chest.
“Yeah! It’s anyone’s game!” An upperclassman with periwinkle hair suddenly popped her head into the mirror above my own, making me jump, “Hey-hey! I’m Hado Nejire!”
Her reputation preceded her, apparently. My senpai greeted her warmly like they were old friends, “Nejire-chan was my support class partner my first year! This is Aisaka-san, my ko-”
“Oh, bless your hearts. How precious you think either of you could best me in a contest of perfect beauty.” I knew that voice and my mood soured instantly- Kenranzaki. She’d been one of the support class students I’d overheard gossiping about me when we’d all come back to UA. Was she the one who’d called me flat? I couldn’t remember anymore.
Kenranzaki was a bleach blonde, princess curled nightmare of a girl that I’d evaded since I’d met her during class orientation. Her fake eyelashes were so long that they pressed into her eyebrows when she blinked and her lipstick was nearly tattooed into her face in an unsettling doll-like way. But it wasn’t her appearance that made her unbearable, no. It was…
My cheeks boiled with embarrassment as she continued, “The airhead and the little girl? Come on, really?”
Little girl? Oh, it was on.
I felt my eyebrow twitch and felt a tight, controlled smile peel onto my face. I might have let that slide a few months ago, but now?
“Yes, of course, Kenranzaki-san. It’d be disrespectful to our elders if you didn’t win. I must ask though, Baa-san, how did you train those spiders to sit on your face so patiently?” I made sure to turn my eyes round and innocent, blinking my own lashes at her clumpy mascara. I heard a muffled giggle from Nejire before Mina burst into a full blown belly laugh, clutching her sides as tears formed in them. Daichi, to his credit, didn’t seem to understand the insult, looking down at me and then back to his classmate like he was attempting to decode a cipher. Clearly, he was not versed in the way of the cat fight.
XX
He hadn’t seen her at all since dropping her off at what apparently was a no boys allowed zone and he felt anxious for the first time in a very long time. He was good at the drums, in fact, there were a few instruments that he knew how to play- guitar and piano included but he’d always been best at the drums. Probably because it was just hitting things, but he wasn’t a musician by any means in his opinion. It had just been another one of those things that the hag had insisted on to “improve” him. Couldn’t say she was wrong, it had obviously come in handy later.
He could still remember trying to play the violin and sawing into it when he got annoyed with the instructor, snapping the strings and playing off key while he begged him to stop.
Violin lessons hadn’t lasted very long.
He wasn’t particularly nervous about the performance, either.
Or at least he didn’t think he was? But the stage was large, the auditorium that the teachers used for press conferences and large announcements. He’d already been on TV hadn’t he? There had already been more eyes on him than this. He’d seen a few adults hiding in the crowd that looked more media than not with their notebooks though. This was open to the public, policed by some of the best heroes in the world because of UA’s recent media. It probably should’ve been closed. It was dangerous, wasn’t it?
But that was the whole point, wasn’t it.
Of UA. They were there to build their careers as heroes.
XX
“Bakugou’s in looooove, huh?” Eijirou was having a really hard time focusing on his cues with Mina hovering over his shoulder, shirking her own practice. Not that she seemed to have any difficulty with the dance she’d choreographed for their class, “I always kinda figured that he’d end up with someone so clueless that they wouldn’t notice how belligerent he is.”
“Yeah, I guess Kaida-chan was a bit unexpected, but I think they work well.” He agreed, avoiding her curious gaze, “She’s chaotic in her own way.”
The pink haired girl chuckled, “Yeah, I’m looking forward to watching her later. I hope she doesn’t miss our show, either. By the way, Kirishima…”
He straightened from the box of equipment he’d been unpacking, looking over at her, “Uh huh?”
“Why’d you ask me to hang out with you guys today? We were all going to hang out as a class anyway, right?” She smiled at him sunnily and he felt his face heat up.
“Well… I…” How did Bakugou do this? What would he do right now?
He’d be straight up, probably. Just tell her.
Just tell her.
“I, uhm… wanted to hang out with you.” That was a decent start, but not as direct as he wanted it to be. But what was he supposed to say? Let’s date? This was supposed to be a date?
“Shitty Hair likes you, moron!” He heard the gruff voice call from across the stage, “You two are driving me crazy with this bullshit!”
“BAKUGOU!” He bellowed back in surprise, nearly falling off his feet.
Mina giggled, calling back to him, “You couldn’t have let him do it himself?”
“Not if it means you two are going to third wheel me all fuckin’ day! Fuckin’-” He trailed off into a fit of incomprehensible grumbles, still clearly raging from Kaida’s premature exit on them earlier. He breathed in deeply, trying to steel his nerves. Now was the only chance.
“Jeez, uhm… Bakugou’s right. I was trying to ask you out. Maybe I should’ve been a little more straightforward. I was just a little embarrassed.” He scratched behind his ear anxiously, “You don’t have to… have to, like, see it that way, obviously. I’m fine with just being friends too. I just think you’re… amazing, is all.” Was she pinker than usual? It was hard to tell with her complexion.
“That’s SO cute!” She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his in a peck. He balked, nearly falling to the floor.
“Baku-”
“You really had to take it there, huh?” He could see his friend but his brain had shortwired, “Alright, c’mon, you big dumbass.”