Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was Saturday afternoon and Kyoka walked through the living area and sat at one of the tables in the dining room joining Bakugou and Mina.

"Midoriya and Ochako are still making out on the couch?" Mina asked Kyoka as she settled in her seat.

"Yeah. Those two got hot and heavy pretty fast," Kyoka replied in her usual monotone.

"Awe, I think it's cute! Annoying, yes, but it's nice they found each other. I bet Midoriya's a great boyfriend, too." Mina said.

Bakugou, who had been deep into studying in his Calculus book, looked up at Mina. "Please," he rasped out, irritated. "I bet he's aggravating, even to Pink Cheeks. Probably forgetful, too. I bet he won't remember their one-month anniversary. I bet he doesn't know what her favorite food is, her favorite color. Bastard probably doesn't even know what stuff she likes to do."

"Like you could do a better job," Kyoka said, her tone low but with an edge of teasing.

"Of course, I'd do a better job!" Bakugou leaned toward Kyoka, his eyes burning with the promise of a challenge. "I'd be ten times the boyfriend Deku is! My girlfriend wouldn't know what fucking hit her she'd be so happy!"

"Okay, Bakugou! Time to put your money where your mouth is! I bet you 8000 yen that Midoriya is a better boyfriend than you," Mina said, brandishing her outstretched hand in Bakugou's face.

Bakugou grabbed Mina's hand and shook it firmly, securing the bet. "You're on Pinky!"

"Of course, that means you actually have to have a girlfriend, Bakugou. This is seriously the easiest 8000 yen I've ever made," Mina said as Bakugou packed his backpack with his books. Kyoka couldn't help the small smirk that crept up on her face.

Bakugou wrangled his heavy backpack over his shoulder. "Ears! Wear something nice, but make sure the shoes are comfortable. I'll be at your dorm at 6:45. Don't make us fucking late. We got reservations." He bounded out of the dining room.

Kyoka felt like all the blood drained from her body. "What in the hell just happened?"

Mina broke down in peals of laughter. "Looks like you have a date tonight!"

“He was totally joking,” Kyoka said, her voice lacking conviction.

“I wouldn’t count on it. I’d suggest you be ready or he’s gonna be dragging you out of your room!”

“Shit, y’know, he’s crazy enough to do that.” Kyoka stood up suddenly and decided to go change. Just in case.

“Wait… are you actually gonna do this?” Mina asked, her face shifting from jovial to concerned for her friend.

“You just said he’d pull me out of my room.”

“Well, yeah, so you could always go hide. Or tell Aizawa-sensei. Or tell the rest of the class and we can all gang up on him.” Mina gave a devilish grin. As much as she was willing to help Kyoka out she did love the drama all this mess created.

“No way I want the rest of the class to know. I’ll just go through with it. But he’s giving me half the money if he wins. And same if you win Mina. My price for the inconvenience.” Kyoka cut her eyes at Mina.

“Sounds fair. And my lips are sealed! I’ll keep it a secret.”

Kyoka rolled her eyes as she left, doubting Mina was capable of keeping her mouth shut.

“You guys go out and you’ll both report back to me after the date. I’ll figure out while you’re gone how I’m going to rank the whole thing!” Mina called after her.

Kyoka groaned as she made her way to the stairs.

As Kyoka lay on her bed she checked her phone and her stomach did a back flip when she realized it was already 6:00 PM. She felt the pained expression she made on her face; it went deep and heavy and she couldn’t help but be annoyed that Bakugou had started this whole mess. Of course, now that she thought about it, Kyoka had been the one to challenge him. She shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.

She went to her closet trying to decide what Bakugou meant by “something nice.” She pulled a neon green knee-length knit dress and a cropped, wide-necked black sweater from their hangers and got dressed. “Comfortable shoes...” Kyoka shrugged and pulled on some black leggings and her black and white Vans. She grabbed a long necklace Momo gave her and switched out the rings she was wearing for bulkier/dressier ones. She had time to kill so she decided to do some homework.

A knock at her door made her look up from her homework. She checked her phone and saw it was 6:30. That’s weird she thought as she stood up and walked over to answer it. Maybe it was Momo. She would have to fill her best friend in on this ridiculous Bakugou dating drama.

“Mo-ahhhh. Nevermind.” Bakugou stood in front of her, his hands in his pockets, looking peeved. Or just normal. Mildly peeved seemed to be Bakugou’s default setting. Bakugou was wearing baggy black cargo pants, a red t-shirt, a black hoodie, and a grey denim jacket over that. If this was “nice” attire, then Kyoka wasn’t too worried about being underdressed. “You’re early.”

“Yeah. I thought maybe you’d be runnin’ late like you normally do for band practice.” The silent peevishness was replaced by a self-satisfied smirk. Kyoka so preferred the former. It was going to be a long night. “I decided to come early to behoove you to move faster.”

“Well, I’m ready. No behooving required,” Kyoka replied in an annoyed monotone. She grabbed her mini leather backpack adorned with many pins and patches and slipped her arms through it as she walked through her doorway.

“It’s gonna be cold tonight. You should grab a jacket. I’m not giving you mine if you get cold,” Bakugou grumbled.

“Ah so chivalrous. I’m so excited for our date,” Kyoka replied unimpressed as she continued walking down the hall.

“Well, I’m not Eijirou, you won’t find me being all chivalrous n’shit.” Bakugou fell in step behind her.

“I rarely get cold so I’ll be fine, I don’t want to have to carry my jacket the whole time.”

“Suit yourself.” They walked in silence down the stairwell and through the stairway door out into the night. As Kyoka walked on the sidewalk outside the dorm, Bakugou stepped beside her.

“So where are we going?” Kyoka asked. She tried to hide her amusement but the idea of Bakugou trying to come up with a spectacular date night to win the bet seemed like the most asinine scenario. No one in their class looked at Bakugou in a romantic light, didn’t think he was capable of dating, or even being datable. It was something he had not shown any interest in, always being more consumed with being the best student and best hero. He never went to parties at the school or other social events held in the neighborhood. He had to be practically drug physically to do things in the dorm with the class. Kyoka knew this firsthand because she had been bold enough a few times to do the physical dragging.

Bakugou even lived in Musutafu, the same city UA was located in, so it was easier for him to be more social in his hometown with friends from school and yet he never seemed to socialize or do anything with anyone outside of school projects or work-study. At this point, half-way through their third-year, Bakugou, who was 5 months away from turning 19, had been written off by his classmates as being aroace or somewhere on the aroace spectrum. And a hermit who seemed to be the most happy when he was left to his own devices in his room.

“It’s a surprise,” he said looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. So be it thought Kyoka. She would give him the benefit of the doubt. He seemed to excel at everything he put his mind to, so he would probably do something adequate. Dinner at a nice restaurant. Movie or some other typical first date activity like mini golf or bowling. Then maybe ice cream on the walk back to the dorm. Bakugou would have crammed before the date so he would succeed, googling things online, or probably asking Kirishima, his best friend, for advice. Kirishima had dated extensively so he would be very helpful if Bakugou went that route.

And even though those things sounded a bit dull to Kyoka, she did consider Bakugou a friend so it wouldn’t be a wasted night. If she could consider their bandmate relationship which mainly consisted of him heckling her and arguing over songs during band practice a friendship. Maybe they could get to know each other a bit better and that sounded fine to Kyoka. Maybe it would make him a bit more agreeable of a bandmate.

They exited the main gate of UA. Since both Kyoka and Bakugou were 18, they both had 11 PM curfew on Saturday nights. Bakugou was notorious for going to bed early so Kyoka was curious to see how late they would be out. They walked in silence for several minutes until they hit the outskirts of the art district. The streets were busy which wasn’t too out of the ordinary for the area. She saw groups of people walking down the street toward what seemed like some public event so when Bakugou took an alley behind a large 3-story building in the opposite direction she thought it was odd.

At the end of the barely lit alley, Bakugou stopped and dug his phone out of his pocket and appeared to text someone. He then replaced his phone and waited. Kyoka quirked an eyebrow at him, but before she could ask him what they were doing, a door opened a few feet from them. A short guy with long black hair in a ponytail nodded at Bakugou and appeared to be holding the door open for them. It led to the large 3 story building which Kyoka realized now seemed familiar but she couldn’t place it in the dark of the night, especially from a dark alley from an unfamiliar side of said building.

“C’mon, Ears,” Bakugou said as he walked through the door. Kyoka followed, feeling a bit nervous and the guy with the ponytail smiled at her. She extended her one earphone jack to wrap around her index finger, something she did when she was nervous. Kyoka used to clink the tips of her earphone jacks together when she was nervous, but she hadn’t done that since the war. She only had one earphone jack now; her body quickly found other ways to express her once signature tells.

The man with the ponytail was wearing a security guard uniform. The three of them walked down a long corridor and as it emptied into a large room, Kyoka realized where they were. The Musutafu City Museum of Art.

“I’ll be in the security office on the second floor if you need me. Whatever door you leave out of, make sure it closes shut tightly behind you.”

“I owe you one, Ohara,” Bakugou said with a grin.

Ohara nodded and walked out of the great room which housed one of the main permanent exhibits of the museum.

Bakugou began walking toward a corridor off the great room and Kyoka followed as they passed several large modern art sculptures. They were simple triangles, each about the size of a compact car, that sat in front of a stark black and white wall painted with simple geometric shapes. Kyoka had been to the museum before with Momo during second year and recognized the permanent collection as they walked by.

“So how likely are we to get in trouble for this?” Kyoka asked nervously as they made their way down a narrow corridor, the area dimly lit so Kyoka could barely make out the art on the walls.

“You that much of a rule follower, huh? I thought you’d be a bit more daring.” Bakugou said, his voice laced with mock disappointment. Kyoka was surprised she was a bit on edge. “Don’t worry Ears. I grew up in this city and Ohara’s a family friend. I have connections. And an easy way to bribe people to get what I want.”

“Your agreeable personality isn’t enough?”

“Funny,” Bakugou said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“And what could you possibly offer that would bend people to your will?” Kyoka asked very curious.

“Signed Dynamight merch that can be sold for a lot of yen.”

“Of course,” Kyoka said.

They made their way to an area that opened up to a large exhibit room. ‘Heroes of Musutafu: Finding Hope after Loss.’ It was a new exhibit with pieces created by students at UA and other Musutafu schools, pro-heroes, first responders, and citizens of Musutafu. Art in different media including paintings, sketches, photography, sculpture, film, and music would be on display, all touching on the War that occurred during their second and first year. UA students were going to see it throughout the next week before it was open to the public.

“Let’s get headphones. Over here.” Kyoka followed Bakugou over to a kiosk at the entrance of the exhibit. It had dozens of hooks that held wireless headphones. Bakugou grabbed a pair and handed them to Kyoka and then he took a pair for himself. There was an interactive screen eye level at the kiosk and Bakugou touched several options looking like he was setting up their tour. After a minute, he nodded at Kyoka and waited, as if he wanted her to go first.

She put the headphones on and stepped into the exhibit. Where the rest of the museum had been minimally lit or just plain dark, the “Heroes” exhibit was well lit, Ohara obviously turning on all the lights for them in this area. Kyoka heard the “tour guide” through her headphones welcoming her to the exhibit, sharing its purpose, and then thanking the sponsors who had made it possible. They walked to the closest area to the right past the entrance and Kyoka and Bakugou looked at the pieces of art. Paintings done by children, some expressed nightmarish themes and then as they went down the wall, there were paintings of heroes, of families, of members of the community, bringing a sense of peace after the initial art.

Suddenly music began to play through the headphones, and Kyoka immediately recognized it. It was a piece the Class 3A band had written for the exhibit. She didn’t know how it was going to be utilized for the exhibit when they had submitted the song and two others. And that was if it was even chosen in the first place. She thought maybe they would have a listening station set up with headphones somewhere amongst the pieces of art. The song they chose to use as a backdrop to the tour was an instrumental piece where Kyoka had overdubbed two additional electric guitar recordings over a base part that she and Bakugou had come up with. It had happened unexpectedly one night when she couldn’t sleep, Bakugou had happened to be in the dorm living area when she came down, and then they started talking music. Well arguing about music. But still, she couldn’t think too negatively about it because they had come up with a brilliant song that night, Kyoka on her electric guitar and Bakugou on the drums. It was a bit somber at parts, but it was stirring and hopeful and fit the theme of the exhibit perfectly. In hindsight, it wasn’t hard to get into the mindset. Both Kyoka and Bakugou had been right smack in the middle of that final battle, both had fought All For One that fateful day. And that battle had taken from them both.

Before Kyoka could let her mind wander on things she would rather ignore and not deal with, she looked back at Bakugou shortly after the music started. She saw his face don a surprised expression, and as he met her glance, he quickly looked away and walked toward an interactive screen on a nearby exhibit. She had noticed his cheeks enflame with a dark pink blush before he turned away. He had obviously been surprised by their track’s inclusion on the interactive tour.

Kyoka decided to walk further to a neighboring wall that displayed a work by Musutafu Medical. It was a handmade quilt. It had been designed by the Arts Therapy staff. They had taught long-term patients how to sew and make the squares for the quilt. Each quilt square seemed to have its own unique qualities, yet they all fit together to make one cohesive quilt with beautiful patterns and colors.

She touched the interactive screen and it came to life. The music paused on her headphones and then the audio that went with what was playing on the screen could be heard. She watched a video made of some of the patients creating their quilt squares. Bandaged, bruised, some in casts, they still had smiles on their faces. Many people had been injured in Musutafu due to the destruction of the War.

Kyoka went to the other exhibits, she and Bakugou sometimes crossing paths and he would nod at her, his face serious. There were photos of the destruction of the aftermath, photos of repaired parts of the city, of UA afloat in the sky, of UA students and emergency personnel, and of a Memorial Garden made for the heroes and citizens lost in the battle. There were sculptures, paintings, and sketches by UA students and the other local high schools. There was an area that displayed paintings done by acclaimed artists from Japan that they had created specifically for the exhibit.

One of the last pieces Kyoka saw was at the center of the exhibit. There were three large paintings on a stark white wall. One of the paintings was of the statue of All Might at Camino, damaged and almost unrecognizable after the War. The second painting was of Midoriya after Shigaraki was vanquished, his arm in the air, fist to the sky, the same pose as All Might’s statue in Camino. The third painting was of Bakugou. Lying on the ground after All For One had been defeated. Bakugou had collapsed due to exhaustion and injury. But his arm was raised above him in the air, fist clenched, before he had passed out. The same victory pose as All Might and Midoriya.

One thing not visible in the painting from the angle he was lying, was Bakugou’s mangled right arm. It had been damaged beyond repair in that battle. He had a prosthetic now. Bakugou, to no one’s surprise, had returned from the hospital and acted like nothing was different. He continued his hero training undeterred, but he threw himself into training even more intensely to make up for the deficit he now had with his quirk. And even though his temper had improved drastically since first year which made him a much better friend, he had withdrawn from the class even more. He chose to spend most of his free time training and at the Support Class Lab figuring out better ways to implement his right-hand support gauntlet, which was no longer fueled by his own hand and quirk.

Bakugou had avoided the center exhibit like the plague. Kyoka saw it had an interactive screen but she didn’t activate it. It somehow seemed too intrusive to do so with Bakugou there. She honestly thought she would have felt the same way even if he had not been present. The war still felt too raw, too recent. She felt something catch in her throat, so she turned and walked away before she could let herself be still with those emotions for too long. It was how she had been coping with it. How she had been getting by.

Kyoka had finished looking at all the pieces and showcases so she walked back toward the entrance of the exhibit. She put her headphones back on a hook at the kiosk and turned to find Bakugou waiting for her. Before she had a chance to thank Bakugou for the sneak peek he grabbed her hand and quickly walked through the open archway into another exhibit. “We hafta hurry for the next part,” he said as he kept the quick pace and Kyoka almost had to jog to keep up since his legs were a lot longer than hers. The sudden skin-to-skin contact of their held hands sent a shiver up Kyoka’s arm and down her spine and she hoped he didn’t notice her hand tremble for a second. She wasn’t a touchy-feely person and neither was Bakugou so the whole thing was weird and unexpected. His hand was hot and sweaty but it somehow wasn’t unpleasant.

He didn’t let go as they walked through the 18th-century glass painting exhibit.

At the corner of the large room was a door leading to the stairway. They went up the stairs, Kyoka becoming out of breath as Bakugou pulled her behind him up three flights. As they went through the exit door at the top, Kyoka’s ears were met by the familiar sound of an electric guitar having a sound check. The door had spit them out on the roof of the museum. As Bakugou pulled her to the far edge of the roof, she saw a crowd of around 200 people below in the large, spacious front grounds of the Museum. An outdoor concert she didn’t even know about in Musutafu. A temporary stage was set up directly across from them down the far end of the open space below.

“That’s Landfill Indie!” Kyoka said, her voice ringing with excitement which was a rarity for her, as she looked onstage at the performers. Landfill Indie was an up-and-coming band out of Tokyo. “How did I not hear about this?”

She looked up at Bakugou who donned a smug expression. “They announced it a few weeks ago. Surprised you didn’t hear about it. It’s a rain check they rescheduled from the summer.”

Kyoka loved live music and normally kept on top of anyone she was even just remotely interested in hearing that came to play in Musutafu. But she had been busy with their plans for the school festival that was coming up in two weeks. She had planned a set for the Class 3A band to play, original songs and some covers, that she and the other 4 bandmates had been practicing. Her gaze alighted on the stage, taking in the instruments and the band members soundlessly talking to one another as they tuned up. A buzz of excitement could be felt from the crowd below. Kyoka breathed in the usual music festival smells of food truck fare, people, and cigarette and vape smoke.

“Best part about this is we don’t have to be around any extras.” Bakugou’s loud voice carried easily over the loud hum of the crowd underneath them. “We got the best seats on this roof ledge. All to ourselves.” She turned her head, looked up at Bakugou, and before she could stop herself, she grinned widely at him, it felt so foreign on her usually stony face. “They’re about to start playing. I’m gonna fetch us some food.” His smile had shifted from the smug smirk he had been wearing earlier. It was an expression she had never seen him wear before. His face was relaxed, his lips softly pulled into a smile. Instead of his brows having a sort of aggressive or challenging slant to them, they framed his eyes in such a way that made him look strangely calm, that revealed something in his eyes that made Kyoka hold her breath and suddenly become very aware they were still holding hands.

A couple of seconds passed but they felt uncomfortably much longer than that. Before Kyoka had the sense to tell her hand to let go of Bakugou’s hand, he let go. “Stay here, I’ll be back.” He turned away jogging toward the far end of the roof and before Kyoka could ask him if he needed any help, he hopped off the roof, Kyoka assuming he was going down an emergency stairway or that he was using his quirk to stay afloat. Kyoka sat on the ledge and a few moments later, the band began the first song, the crowd below cheering wildly.

It was one of their more popular songs that had gotten some radio play locally. Before the first song ended, Bakugou sat next to her, his arms filled with food and drink. He handed her a covered hot beverage and she felt her body pulse with pleasure when the smell of coffee hit her nose. “Seriously coffee? You’re a god among men!” she said loudly so he could hear her over the music. Kyoka may have had a teeny tiny coffee addiction.

He looked at her, a grin flashed on his face for a second, and then it was replaced by a smirk. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Well maybe the only nice thing you’ve ever said to me,” he yelled back to her over the music as he sat next to her.

Kyoka rolled her eyes. Bakugou handed her a paper bowl filled with something she couldn’t recognize if someone paid her to. She could make out what looked like some kind of shredded meat, rice, and maybe pickled vegetables. The first song ended, and Kyoka took the opportunity to speak quickly while the crowd cheered before they started the next song. “What the hell is this?” Kyoka asked Bakugou as she glanced down at the mystery food in the bowl.

“Like it fucking matters. It’s covered in spicy mayo and eel sauce. That’s the only shit you should be worried about.” Kyoka did like her sauces. She glanced at Bakugou’s bowl and it had the same mystery food but without the sauces. Fusion foods were typical food truck fare. From what she could tell it looked like it could be some mishmash of Japanese, Hawaiian, and Tex-Mex.

“Thank you,” she said, but the next song had started and ate up her appreciative words.

The set had been amazing. Bakugou seemed to enjoy himself as much as Kyoka had. She wasn’t sure how much he really liked the band, but they had a phenomenal drummer so she thought he at least appreciated that aspect. As the band wrapped up the last song, Kyoka was buzzing with energy, feeding off the high of live music, and the vibes of excitement exuding from the crowd.

They both stood up, talking about the song the band had closed with, which neither of them had heard before. Kyoka followed Bakugou, walking across the roof of the museum as they chatted (well argued) about the changing time signature in the last song (Kyoka told Bakugou there had not been one, but he insisted). Bakugou stood on the edge of the roofline and Kyoka joined him. As she looked past the ledge, she didn’t see emergency stairs or any other way to get down. “You took us to the wrong side there’s no-“ Before Kyoka could finish her sentence, Bakugou grabbed Kyoka by the waist and hefted her over his right shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?!?” she blurted out.

She squirmed, her face enflamed with embarrassment and anger, and when she heard Bakugou cackle she realized what he was about to do, and her chest filled with sickening dread that spread to the rest of her body like a cold draft. Before she could yell at him to stop, he jumped off the roof and Kyoka felt like her stomach had been extricated from her body and all she could do was scream in terror. As gravity did its thing, she felt resistance to their falling and heard faint explosions from Bakugou’s left hand slowing their descent. When Bakugou hit the ground, more gently than she expected, she thrashed on his shoulder until he grabbed her and flipped her around in front of him. She felt her feet on the ground, but she was disoriented. He held on to her shoulders until she seemed to be stable on her legs.

As her equilibrium righted itself, she turned to Bakugou and smacked him on the shoulder with an open hand.

“What the fuck?!?” he bellowed at her, but he had a smile on his face still and he looked like he could break out in raucous laughter any second.

“You could have dropped me! Are you crazy?!?”

Bakugou looked at her like she was an idiot. “Me drop you? Please. You don’t think I’m capable of holding on to you for two seconds? It’s not like you even weigh anything, Pixie.”

Kyoka made a face at the nickname, she couldn’t even describe what kind of face it was, but she felt her features wince up and the flush she was already experiencing from their free fall deepened in intensity. Bakugou grinned at her, wide and unabashedly, and for some reason that look made her insides feel even more discombobulated, so she turned away from him and started walking down the sidewalk.

“Wrong way,” Bakugou said his voice ringing with smug satisfaction. Kyoka stood still for several seconds until she felt the heat of the flush leave her and felt the expression on her face was tempered; she needed to calm down. Funny how calm was usually so easy for her, definitely her default: calm and chill and zen. But Bakugou seemed to have a way of pushing her out of her default setting. She turned toward Bakugou and his face had a less irritating smile on it now, but it was still very much a self-inflated Bakugou smile.

He walked in the opposite direction on the sidewalk and Kyoka joined him. “So where to now?” she asked him, her voice her normal, low monotone, her mood stabilizing finally.

“It’s a surprise,” Bakugou replied, his voice less sly than before.

Kyoka sighed. “I hate surprises.”

“You won’t hate this one. I promise. But it’s a bit of a walk. Why I told you to wear comfortable shoes. Don’t know why in the hell you wore fucking Vans.” He snickered and Kyoka bit her bottom lip to keep from saying something salty in response.

After a few seconds, finding the calm inside her again, she thought it was safe for her to proceed. “These are fine, definitely comfortable enough to wear around town walking.” Kyoka glanced at Bakugou’s feet. “You’re one to talk. You’re wearing combat boots.”

“They’re padded.”

“I have padded ones, they’re still not as comfortable as these.” Kyoka motioned at her shoes.

“Damn you just want to fucking argue about everything,” Bakugou said sounding a bit annoyed.

“You of all people are seriously going to say that to me?” Bakugou had to be on the top ten list of the most argumentative people on the planet.

Kyoka couldn’t help but shiver suddenly. The temperature had dropped substantially since they had left UA and she was cold. Bakugou had his jacket on unzipped and she saw he had his hoodie wrapped around his waist under the jacket. He had shed the one layer during the concert. Kyoka wasn’t about to ask him if she could wear it; he would hold that over her head the rest of the “date” since he had warned her to bring her own jacket.

She spotted her saving grace less than a block away, Volo Coffee and Tea. She grabbed Bakugou’s hand, surprised it was so warm considering how cold it was and that he wasn’t wearing gloves, and pulled him behind her. As they walked through the door of the shop, Bakugou made a ‘Tch’ sound.

She looked back at him and smiled. “Coffee or Tea? My treat.”

Bakugou shook his head. “I don’t drink either. I’ll take a water though.”

Kyoka walked up to the counter and asked for a hot café-au-lait with sugar to go and Bakugou asked for a bottle of water. They were still holding hands and Kyoka felt a warmth starting at their clasped hands that ran through the rest of her body. She became very self-conscious suddenly and let go. Bakugou kept holding her hand for two more beats before he let go.

Before Kyoka could pay, Bakugou gave a card to the cashier and gave Kyoka a smug expression, like he had won something and she had lost. Kyoka rolled her eyes at him and then realized she had been rolling her eyes an awful lot that night. It was kind of hard not to around him; he could really get under her skin at times.

As they exited the shop, Kyoka sipped from her coffee contentedly, the to-go cup warming up her chilled hands and the warm beverage heating her up from the inside out. “You drink a lot of coffee. How the hell do you sleep at night?” Bakugou commented.

Kyoka shrugged. “I go right to sleep around midnight with no issues.”

Bakugou scoffed. “Midnight… no wonder you’re barely on time to class.”

“Okay Grandpa,” Kyoka said, not having to explain herself. Everyone knew Bakugou went to bed at 8:30 in the evening and was one of the first students up in the morning before the sun rose, like an octogenarian. Before she could comment on how she was keeping him up way past his bedtime, she felt something around her shoulders and noticed now that Bakugou had draped his jacket around her. Kyoka glanced at him and saw him pull his hoodie on over his head and push his arms through the garment.

The jacket was very warm, heated up by Bakugou’s body heat. Kyoka couldn’t help to notice the faint scent that exuded from the jacket; it was sweet and smoky and she couldn’t help her cheeks heat up and then she hated herself for that reaction. What was wrong with her?

“I thought you wouldn’t be doing any of the ‘chivalry shit,’” Kyoka said, the words coming out a bit more aggressive than she meant as if she was trying to cancel out the weird reaction she had moments before.

“If it keeps you from getting another coffee in the next 4 blocks, I call it an act of mercy, not chivalry. You’ll never fall asleep tonight if you keep drinking that shit.”

Kyoka pursed her lips not saying anything. Bakugou figured out the coffee stop was mainly to warm her up. That seemed to be oddly observant of him. He was trying really hard with the boyfriend points. Anything to beat Midoriya it seemed.

They walked for a couple of minutes in silence which started to become awkward for Kyoka. Probably not to Bakugou though. He probably didn’t mind being left to his own devices.

“So I was thinking of maybe covering the last song of the set we heard tonight. For the school festival. What d’ya think?” Kyoka asked.

“Yeah, I liked it. In fact, we can play that one instead of the song about the illiterate girl. I fucking hate that song.”

“Illiterate girl?” Kyoka thought through the seven songs they had been practicing for their set the last month and had no idea what he was talking about. “Which one?”

“Seriously? Fuck…” He slowed his pace and looked down at his feet but his gaze wasn’t focused, like he was running the song in his mind. After about ten seconds he looked up at her. “Okay… it’s the one where you repeat, ‘she can’t read, she can’t read, she’s bad’ at like two different parts."

Kyoka couldn’t help but laugh, it was a strange noise to her own ears. She realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed loudly like that. It seemed to come from someplace deep inside her, not her usually half-hearted chuckles. “It’s ‘she can read.’” Kyoka said with a grin.

“Well fuck me then. Fine, it’s the song about the literate girl then. Damn. Like anyone can seriously tell. That post-punk revival shit you like seriously has all the worst singers. I can never understand what the fuck they're saying.”

Kyoka dropped her jaw and then before she could stop herself she leaned into Bakugou playfully. “Is my singing really that bad?” She didn’t even mind the insult, Bakugou’s whole spiel reminded her of their band practices where they often quarreled but for some reason, this felt a little different. It felt pleasantly familiar but somehow even better.

“No. That’s what I’m saying. Even with your beautiful voice, you can’t make those songs sound good.”

“Wow,” Kyoka said in a dull deadpan, but she couldn’t keep the edges of her mouth from turning up a tiny bit. “Is that supposed to be a compliment? If so, you seriously suck at it. No boyfriend points for you.”

He suddenly put an arm around the back of her shoulders and gently pulled her closer to him, her shoulder lightly pressed against his side. “I said you had a beautiful voice. Explain to me how that’s not a compliment.” Kyoka felt her heart beat wildly in her chest at their suddenly close proximity. The faint scent she had briefly experienced when the jacket had been draped on her, now flooded around her, enveloping her along with Bakugou’s comforting warmth. She swallowed heavily.

Kyoka had to think really hard back to what Bakugou had said since the last few seconds she had been extremely distracted.

“You said I didn’t sound good in the same breath.” As they walked near a trash bin, Kyoka reached and disposed of her empty coffee cup.

“It’s just impossible with those bands. They all suck. The Storks. The International Criminal Police Organization. The Nope Nope Nopes. Radio on the TV. All of them are the fucking worst.”

Kyoka laughed and dared to look up at Bakugou’s face. She noticed how bright red his cheeks were, it was probably the chilly weather doing that. He was grinning wide, a mischievous pull to his lips that he couldn’t help to exude when he smiled like that. But he didn’t look her in the eye. His smile lessened as she stared at him, and then he took in a deep breath from his nose and let it out of his mouth. She felt his chest move against her shoulder with the motion.

She looked away from him, shaking her head. “’The Storks?’” Kyoka said and laughed softly again. She wasn’t surprised her cheeks felt sore. Bakugou had said the names of a few of the bands she liked, but all so purposefully wrong. It was an incredibly silly, bordering on dorky, thing to do. But kind of cute. Kyoka felt the skin on the back of her neck prickle even though she was perfectly warm now and then the sensation sent a surge of pleasure down her spine.

Kyoka couldn’t help but give in to the silliness now. It was wild that Bakugou or even she could be silly ever but here they were. She started to sing the ‘illiterate girl’ song. It would now always be known to her as the ‘illiterate girl’ song. “I wish I could eat the salt off, Of your lost faded lips...”

“Oh hell no,” Bakugou said and then covered her mouth with his hand to muffle her singing. She couldn’t help but softly laugh again. His fingers were soft and warm and she blushed at the physical contact. “You can shut your ‘lost faded lips,’” Bakugou said in a low grumble but there was a hint of good humor in it. He lowered his hand and as she looked up at him, he narrowed his eyes at her as if he was daring her to start back up.

She was giddy. Kyoka tried to go back in her memories and find if she had ever felt giddy before and if she had, she couldn’t remember. “I suppose if you had it your way, we’d just play Math Rock and then I’d never get a chance to sing.”

“Some of it has vocals,” he said.

“Not any of the songs you sent me.”

“Well, maybe you should make some up then. I’m sure whatever you could come up with would be better than any shit ‘Spork’ could come up with.”

“You’re ridiculous. And it’s ‘Spoon,’” Kyoka said with a smirk.

A sound coming from where they were pressed together made them both stop walking in time to see a piece of folded paper fall out of Bakugou’s hoodie pocket. Before he could grab it, Kyoka snatched it up, and then ran from him, being fueled by their recent interactions with a vigor she normally didn’t have.

“Give that back!” he bellowed as she kept running away from him.

She opened the paper and quickly read it. It was a spreadsheet with Tasks in the first column. Her eyes scanned the list of tasks and the smile dropped from her face. “’Handholding’, ‘paying for stuff,’ ‘getting food at festival,’ ‘giving jacket if she gets cold,’ ‘compliments,’ ‘talk about music,’ ‘walk on the outside of her.’ So all of that was just stuff on a checklist? That whole no chivalry shit was just teasing? You were always going to give me your jacket. You even have ‘tease her’ and ‘playful banter’ on this list.”

“Yeah, what of it?” He tried to grab the list but she kept it from his reach and kept walking away from him, reading it.

“There’s a Kyoka column with ‘likes coffee, favorite color purple, loves condiments/sauces on everything, likes puzzles, gets cold easily but never brings her jacket, likes cats and dogs, vinyl…” It was a surprisingly long list. Her eyes scanned further down. “There’s even a list of all the music genres I like in order of my favorite to least favorite. How’d you find this stuff out? Momo?”

“None of your fucking business.” His face was pissed now, and he lurched forward and grabbed the list out of her hands.

“So, it could have been anyone… like if Momo had been sitting there instead of me when Mina made the bet. If Momo had made the comment egging you on instead of me. You would have taken her out?”

“It would have been different stuff with her. But yeah. I would have made a list and taken her out.” He didn’t look pissed anymore, just mildly annoyed. His tried-and-true default.

Kyoka sighed heavily and crossed her arms in front of her. She couldn’t extricate the scowl on her face if her life depended on it. Her feelings were hurt, it felt like all the magic Bakugou had cast that night, because she felt it had been a magical night, had suddenly dissipated and she was left with the caustic misanthrope from Class 3A who didn’t want to be around anyone.

And then she felt absolutely ridiculous she was upset because it wasn’t a real date. Why in the world would she be offended that he did what he did? She would have never gone on a REAL date with Bakugou in the first place! Why did she feel annoyed though?

He took in her whole pissed demeanor Kyoka knew she was exuding and he groaned with annoyance. “What the hell, Kyoka? You knew this was a bet. Don’t be so fucking sulky and offended. Y’know it doesn't make the shit I did tonight any less…thoughtful. Did Pikachu put as much thought into the dates he went on with you when you dated at the start of second year? And then Mindfuck at the beginning of third year? I bet neither of them did half the things I did, and I’m not even fucking done yet tonight.”

Bakugou was right, but Kyoka couldn’t help but feel slighted for some reason. Why was she being this way? She couldn’t shake being pissed off by his data cheat sheet reveal and how he would have taken Momo out for the bet if she had been sitting at the table with Mina instead. She looked up at him and felt the hard line of her mouth as she grimaced; she immediately saw his face get even more defensive.

“You got 10 seconds to say something nice, or I’ll tell Mina I had a bad time,” Kyoka said.

Bakugou closed the distance between them lightning fast, his face red and livid, his eyes scorching with the heat of agitation. He glared down at her, his words loud and ringing in her ears due to his proximity. “And you’d be telling her a fucking lie.”

“No, I wouldn’t lie. I’d tell her it was the best date imaginable until you completely wrecked it in the end by being an ass.” Kyoka wasn’t afraid of him. He was all bark and no bite anyhow. Something changed in his fighting stance though as she spoke. It was subtle but Kyoka definitely could tell something was different.

“Fine!” he rasped out like a nasty curse. “I’ll say something so nice, you’ll be shocked it came from my mouth.”

“10 seconds starting now.”

He walked away from her and then paced a bit for several seconds like he was gathering his thoughts. “You’re always busting my balls like at band practice…” he muttered under his breath.

Kyoka couldn’t help but stare at him coolly, her face devoid of all emotion. “5 seconds…”

Bakugou stopped in his tracks and looked over at her, crossing his arms over his chest. “Being with you tonight, it's killing two birds with one stone. I get to win the bet, and I get to hang out with you. You’re one of the few people who I don’t mind being around. There? Is that fucking nice enough, your highness?”

“It was actually until the last part.”

Bakugou growled. “You get cold and metal as punishment, Pixie.” He grabbed her hand with his right hand and Kyoka braced herself for it to be cold, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. The metal of the prosthetic was surprisingly smooth and even though she knew he had no feeling in his hand, his grip was still gentle but sure. And he had called her ‘Pixie’ again. Kyoka wanted to absolutely hate it, but instead, she felt a strange sensation that made her scalp feel tingly and the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end. She didn’t know what that was all about, so she decided to ignore it.

They continued their walk toward who knows where since it was a ‘surprise.’

Things still felt tense after their little contentious back and forth and after a minute, Bakugou dropped her hand. For a second Kyoka wondered if he had finally had enough for the night and he was going to use his quirk and blast away, leaving her to fend for herself in downtown Musutafu. But instead, he draped his arm around her and pulled her in again. As much as Kyoka was a bit annoyed still, she couldn’t help but lean into him as they walked.

The thought entered her mind that there had not been anything about ‘draping an arm around the back of her shoulders’ or ‘holding her close when we walk’ on Bakugou’s list. And she couldn’t help the feeling of a million butterflies taking flight in her stomach at the thought, no matter how she tried to stop it. They continued on to the secret destination and Kyoka knew whatever it was, she was probably going to like it because Bakugou had not hit a sour note with what he had planned thus far that night.

Chapter Text

They walked in silence for several minutes, Bakugou’s arm still around the back of Kyoka’s shoulders. Her mind drifted to different topics, trying to see if she could land on something she could bring up and talk about with Bakugou. Then she thought that was rather silly. Kyoka didn’t mind when things got quiet and Bakugou, as loud and abrasive and in-your-face as he could be, also had periods of time where he was quiet and kept to himself. So she just let them both be.

About a block later they turned around a corner and there was a park that Kyoka recognized to their left. Before they passed the entrance, Bakugou dropped his arm from around Kyoka, took her by the hand, and walked into the park.

“You been here before?” he asked her.

“Yes, with M–“

“Ponytail,” he interrupted her. And he had been right. Momo had taken her there a couple of weeks ago. “Well, guess who showed her this place?” Bakugou asked her, well, he was really telling her, wasn’t he? He said it in his typical, self-satisfied manner but for whatever reason it didn’t come out as cutting and boastful as it usually did.

Kyoka tried to not let the fact that Momo and Bakugou had come here together at some point invade her mind. Was it just the two of them? She knew they hung out sometimes although Kyoka always thought it was mainly to study. Did Bakugou like Momo? Did Momo like Bakugou? Nope. Kyoka wasn’t going to think about it. It was none of her business she reminded herself. Because she and Bakugou were just friends.

It had been during the day when she came to the park with Momo. Now in the dark, it felt like a completely different place. Although it was called Sanaruko Park, it was actually a maze. It wasn’t on a huge piece of property, so it had only taken her and Momo a few minutes to get to the center. But now there was something a bit more exciting about trying to find their way in the dark. There were solar-powered path lights every few feet, but they didn’t put out a lot of light. The moon wasn’t out yet, too, so it was still pretty dark.

After Bakugou walked them a few feet past the entrance, he let go of her hand. “Lead the way, let’s see if you remember.” His tone wasn’t teasing or taunting. She started walking a few more feet and then hit the first decision she had to make. Straight-ahead or left.  She turned left, pretty sure that was the direction she picked weeks ago, and continued on.

It only took her a couple of minutes to get to the center of the maze this time. Even though she had done the maze before, she had chosen incorrectly only once and they had to backtrack. Bakugou didn’t have any snide comments for her about it surprisingly. She looked back at him briefly as he followed behind her a few steps. Bakugou’s hands were in the pockets of his hoodie, his face angular from the footlights’ illumination beneath him. His eyes were a muted red, they almost seemed to glow a soft amber in the dark. His face was also relaxed. Not a line could be found on his forehead which usually seemed to be in a constant state of creased due to his scowling, laughing, or smugness. Bakugou’s expression, like his eyes, was soft.

Kyoka finally made it to the center of the maze. It looked very different than she remembered, much smaller and everything seemed so still due to the lack of noise since it was late at night. They had not come across a single person and Kyoka had not noticed hearing cars driving on the nearby roads.

The open area at the heart of the maze had a fountain at its center. It was an obelisk that reached about 3 meters to the sky and at its base was a simple round basin about 5 meters across. There were four fixtures in the basin that extended above the water line that spurted water from the top; the water fanned out like a liquid flower, spilling hypnotically back to the basin. The only light sources in the area came from four underwater lights that rested at the bottom of the basin between the fixtures. With the lack of the moon, it was quite dark.

Kyoka remembered the fountain and the four benches that surrounded the fountain. She had not remembered the glowing neon shapes that shone from the paved ground surrounding the fountain. A bench sat in the middle of each of the glowing shapes: a neon pink diamond, a neon green circle, a neon blue square, and a neon yellow triangle.

Kyoka slowly walked around the fountain, noticing all the yen at the bottom of the basin. She took off her mini backpack and found some loose change at the bottom. She reached her hand out to Bakugou and he extended his hand out to her. She dropped a 50 yen coin and a 100 yen coin in his palm. She kept one 50 yen coin for herself. She ran her thumb over the hole at the center of the coin and tried to think of a wish before she tossed it in. She felt kind of silly now, but it was something she had always done as a child when she came across a yen-laden fountain. She tossed the coin in the water before her mind dwelled too much on the thoughts in her head that were trying to form a wish. Something along the lines of not wanting the night to end.

She watched Bakugou skip the coins one after the other into the water, both skidding on the surface and hopping up one last time before plunking into the water. Bakugou walked over until he was standing right next to her. “So the center of this park. It’s a puzzle at night.”

Kyoka looked up at him and couldn’t help to give him a small smile, a tiny surge of excitement stirring in her chest. Kyoka loved puzzles. Escape rooms, riddles, puzzle boxes, brain teasers, mazes, anything that got her thinking outside of the box. She immediately looked over the area and she knew the shapes on the ground were a clue. She walked over to the nearest bench sitting in the yellow triangle and then circled the bench, seeing if there were any markings on it. She then circled again, but this time with her flashlight on her cell phone shining out so she could see the barely illuminated benches better. She didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary so she circled the other three benches. None of them had any clues.

Kyoka glanced at Bakugou and the corner of his mouth was quirked up a tiny bit. She decided to get a closer look at the fountain. She was going to stand up on the lip, but before she did that, she took off Bakugou’s jacket that was draped over her shoulders like a cape. She didn’t want the jacket to fall off of her and land in the water below. Kyoka put the jacket on correctly, pushing her arms into the garment and then buttoning it up. It was huge on her, so she rolled up the sleeve cuffs to the middle of her forearm not wanting to feel like a child playing dressup. She heard Bakugou snicker but she didn’t look over at him. She probably did look ridiculous wearing his jacket.

She stood up on the lip of the basin and peered into the water to see if maybe there was writing or shapes on the floor of the basin. Of course, that would be unfortunate since tons of coins decorated the bottom. She carefully walked along the lip, it was about 30 centimeters wide, enough so people could sit at the edge of the fountain if they wanted to. As she walked around the basin she looked closely at the obelisk at the center of the fountain and that’s when she noticed the neon shapes on one side of the obelisk at about her eye level standing on the lip. They were a much smaller replica of what was on the paved ground, each shape about the size of an apple.

She stared at it for a bit trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. Kyoka hopped down from the lip and walked over to the nearest shape on the paved ground, the blue square. She knelt down and peered at it closely. She figured it was painted on with a special kind of paint that glowed in the dark, hence the shapes only being visible at night. That meant the shapes couldn’t be moved, they weren’t lights being projected, or something else that could be changed. So then maybe one set of shapes was a map, the other set of shapes the area she was meant to search.

She walked over to the lip of the fountain and stepped back up so she could look closer at the mini shapes on the obelisk. She wished she could get closer. She realized she had not paid attention to Bakugou for the last couple of minutes being so wrapped up in the puzzle. She turned her head and saw he was standing a couple of meters behind her. He looked like he was about to open his mouth as she locked eyes with him.

“I don’t want any hints,” she quickly blurted out before he had a chance to say anything.

Bakugou grinned wide for a second and then shook his head. “Good thing because I wasn’t gonna give you any.” Kyoka smiled back at him and then turned her attention back to the puzzle.

“It’s funny seeing you like this. All focused and almost excited,” he said.

She turned away from him not answering him, she just shrugged her shoulders. His tone wasn’t teasing like she would have expected from him considering what he said. She looked down at the water and noticed one of the water fixtures spraying water from its top was between her and the obelisk. It took her a few seconds to realize this water fixture was different than the other three. It looked much thicker and the base looked to be made of stone, whereas the others appeared to be thinner and metal. The stone fixture would hold her weight and the way the water spurted out the top, really only the bottom of her shoes would get wet if she was careful.

Kyoka took a wide step forward, her foot hitting the stone water feature securely, and she took another wide step and stood on the thin ledge at the base of the obelisk. The shapes were right in front of her; she peered at them, trying to see if there were any other markings. And that’s when she saw it, a tiny but very distinct ‘x’ right at the outer edge of the shapes, between the diamond and the triangle. From further away the x appeared as a natural variation in the stone’s color, it had blended in with the other natural markings of the stone. But up close it was obvious it was a clue.

‘X’ marked the spot and Kyoka carefully stepped back over and then walked to the outer edge. She glanced at Bakugou who was watching her, his face passive, his body still. She smiled at him, excited she was getting closer to solving this thing and he smiled back at her.

She went toward the halfway point between the diamond and the triangle. She got out her phone and used the flashlight so she could see what she was doing. The tall hedges that made up the walls of the maze and had the whole center area closed in except for the entrance stood half a meter above her. She knelt down and noticed a large rock at the root of the hedge, mostly hidden by the foliage of the giant plant. She got on her hands and knees and crouched low, searching the top of the rock, then the sides. The rock was too heavy to move, so she stretched her arm and searched behind the rock and that’s when she felt it. She moved her hand around what felt like a metal box.

She pulled it away and sat on the grass, laying her phone down next to her, the pop socket pulled out so she could shine the phone’s flashlight on the box.

Bakugou sat next to her. “Not bad,” he said, his voice devoid of sarcasm. Kyoka couldn’t help but smile back. She saw the metal box was actually an ammo can. She lifted the large metal clasp that securely closed up the ammo can keeping it watertight. Her heart was racing in her chest; it was like finding buried treasure.

She opened the ammo can and pulled out the contents: a worn journal and a small plastic container. Kyoka looked at Bakugou with questioning eyes.

“It’s a letterbox,” he rasped out.

“A letterbox?”

“And you call yourself a puzzle queen,” Bakugou said with a smirk. “Guess you’ve never heard of letterboxing?”

Kyoka shook her head. Bakugou explained that letterboxing was a hobby where people hide weather-proof boxes in public places like parks and then they give clues so others can find them. “It used to be just word of mouth on how to find them before modern technology. But now there are websites where you can get clues.”

He pointed at the journal in her hand. “So each letterbox has a journal. Each person who finds it is supposed to leave their mark in the journal showing they found it. People usually have a personal stamp they use to mark the journal.” He then pointed at the plastic container. “And every letterbox has a unique stamp that you use to mark your personal journal.”

“That’s seriously cool,” Kyoka said and then her face heated up with a flush of embarrassment when she realized how loud she had said it. She was glad it was dark enough Bakugou probably didn’t notice.

Kyoka opened the journal and carefully looked through it. Each page had dozens of stamps on them, some with only a date next to it, some with a date and name, other people would write a couple of sentences sharing their experience finding the box, or maybe share why they were in Musutafu (vacationing, visiting grandma, etc). The stamps were all different shapes, colors, and sizes.

“So….” Bakugou shifted up on his knees and dug in his cargo pant pocket. He pulled out something small and offered it to Kyoka. She brought her hand up and he placed it in her palm. It was a pink, flat disc made of a rubbery substance. It was about the size of the palm of her hand. Kyoka brought it in front of the flashlight of her propped-up phone so she could see it better.

It was smooth on one side, but the other side of the disc revealed it was a stamp. It had been hand-carved, she could tell by the grooves in the hollow parts. It was carved to make the shape of a guitar. The lines of it were simple, but the curves of the body of the instrument along with the simple inlay at the top of the body showed it was specifically a Fender Telecaster. That was her favorite guitar out of the several she had.

Bakugou had hand-carved her a personalized stamp. How had he had time to do that prior to their date? Before she could dwell on that question and become overwhelmed by his gesture, Bakugou spoke. “Go to the back of the journal and find the next blank space.” Kyoka laid the stamp down on the grass next to her and went to the back of the journal, finding an empty spot behind the last entry. He sat in front of her and handed her a small inkpad. It was electric blue in color like her Telecaster. Kyoka felt heat rise from her chest and wrap around her neck. She swallowed nervously as she took the ink pad from him.

She pressed the stamp onto the inkpad and marked the empty space in the journal. She then took off her backpack and fished a pen out. She wrote the date down and then paused trying to decide what else to write. Bakugou reached for the plastic container and opened it, milling around with the contents so she scribbled something down while he wasn’t looking. ‘Earphone Jack & Dynamight.’ She closed the journal and set it next to her.

“Here's the letterbox stamp,” Bakugou said as he handed her a small object. Kyoka took it and saw it was a square stamp carved with the same four shapes in the park. “Here.” Kyoka looked up at Bakugou and he handed her a small black leather journal about the size of her hand. “For you to stamp.” Kyoka nodded at him and couldn’t help but blush again as she quickly looked away from him.

He had been carrying the journal, inkpad, and the stamp in his oversized cargo pockets the whole night unbeknownst to her. The plastic container for the letterbox had an inkpad that was hot pink. Kyoka used that along with the 4 shape stamp to mark her journal and she smiled feeling a sense of pleasure and closure like she felt after escaping an Escape Room or opening a puzzle box.

She and Bakugou put the letterbox contents back in the ammo can, closed it up, and she placed it back behind the rock. As she turned around Bakugou was already at the entrance/exit to the center part of the maze. She walked over and as she moved next to him, he reached out and took her hand. The contact was like a jolt to her system which made no sense, he had been holding her hand all night. She tried everything in her power to keep her hand from shaking.

They walked back through the maze, Kyoka letting Bakugou lead the way. She desperately tried to think of something to talk about because there was this awkward feeling enveloping them both. It was almost like a hum she could feel but couldn’t hear. It thrummed around them soundlessly and it made it almost impossible for Kyoka to calm her heart that had increased its beating. She couldn’t help to glance at Bakugou, his profile barely visible through the glow of the footlights. His face was serious. Then she realized that he actually didn’t look serious; his face was just relaxed, his features not tensed into some intense emotion. She wasn’t used to seeing him like that.

Kyoka never could prod her mouth to say something, so they continued on although the feeling she felt buzzing between them lessened. As they exited the maze and continued on, she assumed to campus, she started to feel normal again. And then her brain started to run like it usually did, no longer muddled with whatever was happening before.

“I bet Momo solved the puzzle a lot quicker than I did,” Kyoka said, her mind drifting back to Sanaruko Park. It had been a lot of fun. The idea that Bakugou had made Momo a stamp entered her mind and she held her breath for a couple of moments. She then shooed the thought away. It was silly to dwell on what her friends did when she wasn’t around.

“Huh?” Bakugou asked, and then Kyoka felt his gaze on her.

She made eye contact with him and was glad she didn’t have some crazy visceral reaction like she had before when he had held her hand. “Momo. When you took her to the park, I bet she solved the puzzle super fast.”

He looked away from her, his focus drifting to the ground in front of him. “When I went there with E and Momo it was during the day.” Kyoka had a lot of complicated feelings running through her with his statement that she couldn’t fully recognize. But a strange sense of relief seemed to make her relax her posture a bit. It was weird. “They don’t know about the puzzle. You should take Momo back. She’d probably like it. And she could make a stamp in whatever shape she wanted with her quirk.”

“Well… thank you for taking me to Sanaruko Park and for the stamp.” She swallowed nervously and she noticed her palm was sweaty. Was it her? Or was it Bakugou? Hard to tell because they were holding hands. “Really… thank you for the whole night, Bakugou. It was…” she paused and then eventually settled on a word she felt didn’t do the night justice. “Nice.”

“Just call me Katsuki at this point,” he said his voice a bit rough.

“Huh?”

“We’re friends, right? I mean, Half n’ Half calls me by my first name and he pisses me off to no end but because of the whole ‘Big Three’ thing we spend a shit ton of time together so…” he paused as if he didn’t quite know how to make a connection to that and her, so he just grumbled as if that made up for it and then said, “Just call me Katsuki.”

“Okay. I will,” Kyoka replied quietly. She was glad they were walking along a block that didn’t have heavy lighting so he couldn’t see her blush for probably the nth time that night. They walked in silence for the next several minutes and it felt comfortable, not awkward like it had before. Although Kyoka realized at that moment that the feeling as they left the maze wasn’t ‘awkward.’ It had been something else. And she quickly stopped thinking about it.

As they made it to Alliance Heights and neared the door, Kyoka couldn’t help but suddenly realize the date was over and a hollow feeling started in her stomach and began to spread until she could feel it at her throat, threatening to tighten just enough to make her feel anxious. Although it was silly of her to have such a reaction. She and Bakugou were friends, right? Not ‘Bakugou.’ ‘Katsuki.’ That would be a hard habit to break.

They could still hang out though so there was no reason for her to have an almost forlorn feeling. Which made no sense to her anyway, that feeling. Maybe she was coming down with a cold or something and that’s why she felt that way. And if Katsuki was being honest about the nice thing he said to her, about how he liked to hang out with her, well maybe they should start hanging out beyond just band practice. He had now unknowingly given her a pass to drag him out of the safe haven of his room to hang out. She would definitely take him up on it even if he resisted.

“Well I guess we have to report back to Mina,” Kyoka said as they walked up the front steps of the dorm.

Katsuki stopped at the front door and turned toward Kyoka. “What?”

“Y’know. Mina. The bet? She told me to report to her when we got back.”

“Oh yeah,” Katsuki said at a lower volume than he normally spoke, almost like he was distracted. They were still holding hands, and she could feel both of her palms begin to sweat now with the idea of that contact continuing as they walked through the door. She had gotten used to holding hands with Katsuki in private but doing it in front of people they knew made her skin crawl suddenly with dread. Plus, the date was over anyway technically so there was no reason for them to keep holding hands, right?

Katsuki’s face suddenly snapped into a wide grin, she was taken aback by its suddenness and the ferocious energy coming off the expression. “Um… you okay there?” Kyoka asked him a bit worried about what that face could mean.

“Yeah, just thinking about everyone losing their shit if we walk in there holding hands.” Kyoka didn’t think it was possible, but his grin somehow widened even more.

“That would probably happen.” Kyoka lessened her grip on his hand, making to stop the hand holding but Katsuki’s grip stayed sure.

“You don’t want to freak everyone out? It’d be funny as hell.” His wide grin lessened into a mischievous smirk.

“Tauras my foot, are you sure you’re not a Gemini?” Kyoka asked with a flat deadpan as she watched him.

“What?” he asked, his face scrunching up, confused at her words.

“You just make no sense to me sometimes. Like you’d rather not interact with anyone and be left alone in your room on most days. But then other times you want to stir up shit and be in the middle of it. You’re giving serious whip-lash.”

Katsuki shrugged. “I interact on my terms, and it isn’t always just to cause mayhem.”

Kyoka quirked an eyebrow at him so hard it was enough to where she could actually feel her eyebrow piercing almost pinch between the furrows of her expression. “You sure about that?”

“Come on, Pixie. Don’t cha want to see their faces melt?”

Kyoka looked at him, her face subtly shifting to being a little exasperated with the whole thing but before she could say anything, Katsuki pushed the front door open.

Katsuki barreled in pulling Kyoka behind him and then he stopped and stood briefly in the foyer like he was looking for someone, most likely Mina. Kyoka glanced at the kitchen and then the dining/studying tables and saw Mina sitting at the farthest table from them with Midoriya and Ochako.

Katsuki must have spotted her and he walked in that direction, Kyoka next to him, still holding hands. As they walked by the living area, Denki, Sero, Shoji, and Mineta looked up at them casually and then she noticed Denki and Sero do an intense double take as they walked past them.

“What the… are they… holding hands?” Sero’s voice carried as they continued to walk and Kyoka’s face enflamed with embarrassment. Why she agreed to the hand-holding she would never understand. Of course, she realized she had not agreed to it. Katsuki had not given her enough time for her to tell him she wasn’t interested in causing a scene.

“Oh my gawd, Bakugou’s finally snapped! Not having a love life has led him to kidnap one of the girls!” Mineta’s voice yelled loudly behind them.

As they approached the table, Mina, Midoriya, and Ochako looked over at them. Ochako’s jaw dropped and Midoriya’s eyes went wide taking in their held hands. Kyoka wanted to just disappear completely.

“You two are just in time! I’m done taking notes about Ochako and Midoriya’s first date so we can compare!”

Ochako’s eyes, already bewildered, shot back to Mina. “What?! Were you writing down the stuff we were talking about?!”

“Oh yeah, that’s why I was asking you guys about it, to compare it with Bakugou’s first date,” Mina answered her.

“I thought you were genuinely interested…” Midoriya muttered.

“Oh, I think you guys are super cute, Sweetie, and I love hearing about my friends’ lives, but my information gathering was for another purpose,” Mina said with a small smile.

“Like anyone would be interested in someone else’s first date, Izuku. So fucking clueless,” Katsuki said caustically and then laughed.

“Wait… you said compare… why would you want to compare the dates-” Ochako said before her eyes snapped away from Mina and back to Kyoka as if Kyoka standing there was the most shocking element out of all the craziness that was just thrown on the table. “Oh my gawd, Kyoka…. Are you and Bakugou dating?!” Ochako said, her voice high-pitched, the whites of her eyes obvious and glaring with shock.

Kyoka shook her head but before she could say no, Denki and Sero sat at the table and Mineta stood behind them, all of them staring at Kyoka and Katsuki. “So how long have you guys been going out?” Denki asked, his grin lopsided his eyebrows cocked with mischief.

“No, it’s not…” Kyoka began to say before Mina talked over her.

“They’re not going out guys, I can’t believe a little hand-holding is sending everyone and actually got you three to stop gaming for five seconds,” Mina said with a laugh.

“Then what’s going on… why are they…” Midoriya muttered. All eyes were on Kyoka and Katsuki.

Kyoka was tired of the stares and wanted to end all the ruckus, but before she could speak, Mina interjected. “After some comments were made about Midoriya and Ochako’s new relationship, Bakugou and I made a bet. He said he could be a better boyfriend than Midoriya and I bet that he couldn’t. So he took Kyoka out as a guinea pig girlfriend to prove his point.”

Shocked gasps, grumbles, and laughs ensued around the table and Midoriya’s face went from concerned to just annoyed as he shook his head disappointedly at Katsuki. Kyoka was mortified and wanted to bolt out of the kitchen, but Katsuki holding her hand somehow kept her locked in place, even though she knew logically it would be easy for her to break the loose grasp and high tail it.

“I’m so sorry Kyoka! That must have been awful for you!” rang out the voice of Toru who walked in from the kitchen and caught the last bit of the conversation.

“Can it, Ghost Girl!” Katsuki bellowed. Kyoka could feel his palm become sweaty. She felt his hand go slack in hers, but he didn’t pull his hand away from hers. She, however, kept her normal grip. And that was a weird reaction she decided to not think about.

“I had a good time. You guys need to relax about the whole thing,” Kyoka said in her normal, even tone, her mortification lessening substantially all of a sudden.

“There’s no way you had a good time. How much is Bakugou paying you to say that? Let me guess, you get half the money if he wins?” Sero asked with a chuckle.

She heard Katsuki take in a deep breath like he was going to throw out a spicy retort, so Kyoka quickly started to talk before him in the hopes he wouldn’t explode.

"No actually, he’s not paying me.” Kyoka realized she forgot to tell Katsuki he had to give her half the money if he won.

Her eyes briefly met Mina and Mina gave her a questioning look over that detail, since that was the understanding Mina had, that Kyoka would get her payout regardless of who won. Kyoka would clarify with Mina later she had forgotten to tell him. But it didn’t matter at that moment.

“Then why would you ever do it?!” Mineta whined.

“I did it because it’s not a big deal. Katsuki and I are friends and it’s kinda my fault the whole thing happened anyway because I teased him about it.”

Kyoka saw Denki mouth the word, “Katsuki” with a quizzical look on his face. Great. She hoped Denki was the only one who picked up on her using Katsuki’s first name. Everyone was staring at her and now she really wanted to escape.

Mina waved a sheet of paper in the air and looked expectantly at Kyoka. “So now I need to grill Kyoka about the details of the evening and see if Bakugou measured up to Midoriya.” Mina stood up from her chair and motioned to Kyoka. “You two sit here across from those two and I’ll sit at the head of the table, and we’ll compare.”

“An easy win,” Katsuki said. He was no longer angry, but he was gloating, and Kyoka wanted to smack him for it. She honestly couldn’t decide which side of Katsuki was worse. Katsuki started walking toward the table and as they approached the chairs, Katsuki let go of Kyoka’s hand and pulled out her chair for her.

“Looks like Bakugou’s trying to rack up some last-minute points!” Sero said and he and Mineta laughed.

Katsuki glared at them as he pushed Kyoka’s chair in after she sat and then he threw himself in his chair. As he opened his mouth to yell at Sero and Mineta, Kirishima’s loud voice interrupted him and made him quit speaking.

“What’s with the party? No one invited us!” Kyoka looked over and saw Kirishima walking into the room followed by Momo. He was wearing athletic shorts and a gym tank and Momo was dressed in matching sports bra and lycra shorts. They must have both worked out together. Kyoka immediately felt a ton better with Momo now in the room. She would have her back.

“You two are just in time!” Mina exclaimed. Mina quickly explained the whole dating bet to the new arrivals. Momo met eyes with Kyoka and an amused expression painted her face. Kyoka would have to explain to her best friend in more detail how this whole asinine thing came to be later.

“Okay! So let’s go over the activities first!” Mina squealed with excitement. “Tell us what you and Bakugou did Kyoka!”

At that moment, she wanted to crawl under the table and die. Doing this in front of everybody, especially Denki, her ex, was humiliating. They were both still good friends after their breakup which admittedly was ages ago, but it was still awkward having him listen. It was awkward having practically half the class listen in.

Kyoka quickly talked about the things she and Katsuki did, in order of how they happened in the night. She noticed her classmates’ faces go from grinning with amusement to then more serious and contemplative as she finished. She didn’t mention the song she and Katsuki wrote being used in the exhibit or mention the center exhibit with Bakugou when she spoke of the Heroes exhibit Katsuki had snuck them in to. She talked about the concert and the puzzle in the maze at the park. She couldn’t help to see Midoriya, Ochako, and Mina nod as if they approved, and Sero and Denki looked a bit surprised. Mineta’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. Kirishima had a big grin on his face and Momo’s cheeks were slightly pink and she smiled demurely.

Kyoka realized she had been pretty objective about everything and she maybe should have said something about how she felt about the whole experience, but for some reason, she didn’t want to share those feelings with the class. It seemed too personal and Kyoka thought it was silly she felt that way.

When she was done, no one said anything immediately so she turned toward Katsuki and she expected to see a self-satisfied expression since the things she had said were met with approval. Instead, his face was serious and he didn’t meet her eyes. Kyoka wasn’t sure how to read him at that moment.

“Okay! So… I’m not exactly sure how I should rate this… like maybe on a scale of 1 to 5 or something?” Mina asked as she looked at the piece of paper completely covered with her tiny scrawls of handwriting.

“I can help,” Momo said. “I think it would be best to have Ochako and Kyoka rate the experiences to how they felt it suited them personally. Quantifying each query on a numerical scale like you said Mina would work best. One to five should suffice. You can even break the experiences up by how much it felt personalized, but also add an additional section covering how much fun they had.” Momo looked over at Kyoka and smiled at her warmly. As much as Momo had her back, Momo also liked to organize things and run them if she felt it wasn’t being handled correctly. Kyoka wasn’t sure how she felt about Momo’s enthusiastic involvement in her and Katsuki’s fake date.

Kyoka put her elbow on the table and propped her chin on the palm of her hand as Momo and Mina ironed out the scoring details.

Denki groaned and laid his head on the table as if he was bored.

“You can totally leave if you want,” Kyoka said as she glanced at Denki. He looked up at her but before he could say something back, Mineta interrupted him.

“Well, all the technical stuff just makes it boring! Come on, you guys get to the good stuff! Like did you guys kiss? Can you describe that in detail, Kyoka, so we can rate it!” Mineta said as he smiled slyly at Kyoka.

“Not cool, man!” Kirishima bellowed as Sero booed at Mineta. Denki’s laughter rang through the room and Kyoka shot daggers at Mineta with her glare. Katsuki stood up so fast that his chair made a dreadful scraping noise as it was dragged quickly over the floor, drowning out Denki’s laughs. Kyoka looked up at Katsuki and his face was red with anger, his features scrunched up violently in a feral scowl.

“Say that again, I fucking dare you,” Katsuki growled at Mineta, the threat ringing in the air and causing everyone to stare at Katsuki. Kyoka had not seen him that worked up in over a year. Mineta looked like he was about to pass out.

Kyoka instinctively reached up and grabbed the upper sleeve of Katsuki’s hoodie and tugged at him lightly like she was urging him to sit. He slowly lowered himself into his seat.

“Mineta, if you’re gonna say stupid shit like that maybe you should just leave,” Kyoka said annoyed.

Everyone’s eyes shot back over to Kyoka and stared at her and Katsuki with shock. This didn’t make much sense to Kyoka because most of them often grew impatient with Mineta’s particular bullshit and even she didn’t hesitate to call him out. She was getting really tired of all the attention. “Katsuki and I are friends, so of course there was no kissing.”

“I might be an asshole, but I’m not a complete monster. Fucking disrespectful to do something like that during a simulation,” Katsuki said.

“Izuku and I also didn’t kiss on our first date, too. Just… wanted to say that,” Ochako said as if she was trying to help clear the air of all the tenseness.

“Two members of the Big Three can’t close the deal,” Sero said with a laugh and Denki chuckled with him.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing Denki. You didn’t have the nerve to kiss me on our first date,” Kyoka said, her face breaking out with the heat of embarrassment as she said the words. She normally didn’t stick her neck out like that and tease people openly in front of a large group but she was defensive for some reason. Kirishima and Mina laughed at her statement but everyone else just looked uncomfortable.

Denki glanced over at her. “Damn, Kyoka. Going straight for the throat.” He grinned at her though. The two of them often teased and downright roasted the other. But usually, they didn’t have half the class watching and normally they wouldn’t touch their romantic past as well.

Kyoka. Was. Done. She was absolutely exhausted and was ready to call it a night. Her classmates began to talk amongst each other after the awkward statement Kyoka made, and Mina and Momo continued to input the numerical data so they could figure out who won.

She felt Katsuki suddenly right next to her, leaning toward her and she met his gaze. His eyes burned with agitation, but his voice sounded very different when he spoke.

“You okay?” His tone was soft, his voice ringing with concern.

“Yeah, just tired.” Kyoka wasn’t being completely honest, but it sounded like Momo and Mina were almost done figuring out who won. She was almost done with the ‘Bakugou’s Fake Girlfriend’ thing so she could deal with the whole awkward mess for a few more minutes.

“Okay, guys! We figured it out! You want to do the honors Momo?”

“Sure,” Momo said as she took the paper from Mina and cleared her throat before she addressed her classmates. “After assigning each of the seven categories with two numerical ratings, one for tailoring the activity for Kyoka or Ochako respectively and the other for how much fun the recipient had, the most points were earned by Bakugou.”

Derisive chatter broke out from her classmates, except for Kirishima and Momo who looked at each other with surprise but a small smile was on both of their faces. Of course, the two of them, being Kyoka and Katsuki’s best friends respectively would be okay with Bakugou (and kind of Kyoka) winning. But everyone else seemed to wholeheartedly disagree.

“I think those numbers have to be thrown out, Momo is biased toward team Bakugou/Kyoka,” Sero said. Momo looked appalled.

“Momo would never be partial!” Toru’s voice rang out.

Sero looked over at Toru. “Ya sure? She’s best friends with Kyoka and she and Bakugou study together sometimes.”

“I’m still not convinced Kyoka isn’t in on Bakugou winning. I think she has ulterior motives and she’s the partial one,” Mineta said eyeing Kyoka with suspicion.

“You were screaming about Bakugou kidnapping her earlier!” Denki volleyed back. “You can’t have it both ways.”

“You guys are trying to take the win away from me. Typical. And not happenin’!” Katsuki’s voice boomed, but he sounded smug instead of explosive. “I won fair and square!” Katsuki turned to Mina. “Pay up, Pinky!” he bellowed with a laugh.

“Ugh!” Mina breathed out and then started to sulk.

More words of disagreement erupted after Katsuki’s blustering. Kyoka put her head on the table and groaned. She was beyond done with all of this.

“Wait, Wait! There is something unfair about this whole thing.” Everyone turned toward the voice of Iida who Kyoka had noticed at another table studying earlier. She couldn’t believe he was getting involved but he must have not been able to keep from listening to their loud party’s antics. He was standing at the other end of the table now. “Bakugou went into this knowing he had to come up with one stellar date. That puts Midoriya at a huge disadvantage.”

“No… no way Four Eyes…” Katsuki began to say but that didn’t stop Iida. Nothing could stop Iida once he got started.

“If one wanted to have a fair contest to figure out who was the better boyfriend, both participants would need to be aware there were calculations being deduced by their choices toward their partner from the very beginning. Midoriya did not have that information.”

“Iida’s totally right,” Denki said, nodding his head.

“Of course, Iida’s right,” Sero parroted. Sero and Denki both looked at Katsuki expectantly.

Katsuki folded his arms over his chest and squinted his eyes at Iida as if he was the one who needed the glasses. He was not bellowing about Iida spouting bullshit which Kyoka was surprised about. His silence caused a chain reaction as Kyoka’s classmates began to quietly chit-chat to each other about Iida’s outburst.

“May I make a suggestion?” Momo asked suddenly. Thank god Kyoka thought to herself. Momo would tell them all it was just a light-hearted bet, scientific guidelines weren’t needed. No money would exchange hands however due to the unfairness, and even though Mina and Katsuki would both balk at that, the date nonsense would be over with. That sounded like something Momo would come up with and say.  Momo also had to know how this whole situation was bugging Kyoka so her friend would also try to bail her out of this awkward mess.

“Of course,” Iida answered. All eyes were on Momo.

“I think tonight’s date and Midoriya and Ochako’s first date should be thrown out…” Kyoka sighed with relief at Momo’s words. “… and the bet should be extended.” What? Kyoka’s jaw dropped as the feeling of betrayal at the hands of her best friend washed over her like a rogue wave. “Starting tomorrow Midoriya and Bakugou should exemplify what each of them thinks is the epitome of a successful boyfriend. After a week-“

“A week?...” Kyoka gasped under her breath.

“- they will meet with Tenya. Tenya will choose the method of ranking boyfriend status. This is the most fair way to address the bet.” Their classmates began to talk amongst themselves, some of them looking at Kyoka with pity, others smug smiles.

“Ponytail, why’d you pick Four Eyes?” Katsuki asked over the din of everyone’s voices.

“Because Tenya is friends with all four of you and he is incapable of doing anything in an underhanded way. He is the least biased person in our class.” Momo looked away from Katsuki and locked eyes with Iida. “Are you up to the task, Tenya?”

Iida’s bright red eyes looked at Momo with steely resolve before he bowed his head. “I’d be honored to be trusted for such an undertaking.” He then raised his head and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, exuding an air of grave stoicism that didn’t fit the task of what was essentially a dating pissing contest. Kyoka felt like she was losing her mind with how out of hand everything had gotten.

And Kyoka thought that Katsuki would probably feel that a week for 8000 yen would be a waste of his time because surely he had better things to do. One evening to win a stupid bet was one thing, but a whole week was asinine. She turned toward him and saw him and Midoriya locked in a challenging stare-off. Was the petty competitive childhood rivals thing really that strong that they would both want to do something like this?

Kyoka glanced up and met Momo’s eyes. Kyoka mouthed a silent but exasperated “Why?!?” to her best friend. Momo gave her a pained, sheepish smile back.

Well, one thing was for sure, even if Katsuki and Midoriya were prepared and willing to battle each other in a weeklong boyfriend brawl, Kyoka was done with the whole thing. SHE no longer was game.

She was about to say just that, loud and clear, and then go up to her room and sleep until noon the next day. Thank god it was Saturday night and she had the next day off.

She stood up and noticed Katsuki’s head turn toward her with her movement from the edge of her vision. Before she could declare the shenanigans were officially over, Denki spoke so loudly that everyone turned to look at him.

“I want in on this. I bet 30,000 yen Midoriya beats Bakugou.” Denki looked over at Bakugou and grinned. Gasps were heard because that was a nice chunk of money. “Kyoka may have been fine hanging out with you for a night, but you’ll drive her crazy in a week’s time.” Katsuki gave Denki a look that Kyoka couldn’t read, but it was definitely not a pleasant look.

Kyoka thought Denki was actually right about something for once. Katsuki already got under her skin, dealing with him for seven days was a surefire way for him to lose the bet now that she considered Denki’s words.

“I’m sorry Denki, but gambling is in direct violation of clause 3 addendum C of UA Dormitory Rules and Regulations,” Iida said as he pulled out his phone, Kyoka guessed to bring up said rules and regulations in pdf form on his phone. He had done this countless times before.

“Well, why did Mina and Bakugou not get in trouble?” Denki asked exasperated.

“Because what they did would be considered a personal bet. It was seen as something casual and is not technically considered gambling since it was something between just the two of them,” Momo said before Iida could answer.

“Well fine then, E…” Denki looked over at Kirishima who was standing behind Mina. “Let’s make a “friendly” bet. I bet you your bestie won’t be able to beat Midoriya in this boyfriend battle.”

“Challenge accepted!” Kirishima bellowed. They went back and forth over the amount of yen and settled on 10,000. After that, the whole dining area broke out into chaos. Several students started making “friendly” bets and Momo quickly created several pens and a ledger with her quirk to keep track of these “friendly” bets. Iida’s left eye twitched; obviously, he wasn’t pleased with this workaround, but it was technically within dorm rules.

A hollow feeling began to spread at the center of Kyoka’s chest. She went from being exasperated and completely done with everyone and this stupid bet, to now suddenly feeling really down. She couldn’t put her finger on why her feelings had changed, but as the noises of her classmates rose with their excitement, she couldn’t keep from feeling a bit numb and the room felt really cold suddenly so she folded her arms. She had the feeling someone was watching her and she realized it had to be Katsuki due to where that feeling was coming from and the fact that his normally loud voice was missing from the cacophony of her classmate’s chatter.

She dared to turn and look at him; his arms were folded over his chest, his mouth a hard line, but his eyebrows weren’t in a combative slant, although he looked serious. Intense. And Katsuki was looking right at her. “No more of this bullshit. I’m gonna concede; I’m ending it,” he said under his breath as he looked away from Kyoka. He stood up from his chair. Kyoka realized he was going to end the whole thing because of her. Katsuki could tell she was so over the whole thing. Suddenly Kyoka didn’t feel so cold and hollow anymore.

He opened his mouth, Kyoka knew to end all the nonsense, but before he had a chance, she stood up and called out as loud as she could. “Denki!” Everybody stopped and looked up at her. “I want to make a “friendly” bet. 50,000 yen that Katsuki beats Midoriya.” It was all of her savings; she was going to buy a new amp with it.

“Wait, wait! If Jirou’s making that bet they’re definitely working together!” Mineta whined pointing wildly at Kyoka and Katsuki.

Kyoka turned toward Mineta. “It doesn’t matter what you think. It matters what Denki thinks.”

Denki leaned forward toward Kyoka and grinned. “No, Minoru. Bakugou’d never cheat to win. He’s a dick, but he’s too proud to take a fake win.”

“Watch it, asshole!” Katsuki said, but Denki kept talking.

“Count me in, Kyoka. No way you’ll last a week. It’s gonna be hilarious seeing you two fighting nonstop. Midoriya’s got this in the bag.”

Kyoka said her peace and she was officially done. She quickly walked away from the table and headed toward the stairway door, leaving the rest of the class to burst out with ecstatic chatter at what had just happened. She pushed the door open and as she started walking up the stairs, she thought it was odd she didn’t hear the stairway door shut behind her like someone had followed her out.

“What was that whole thing you said earlier about me being the shit stirrer?” Katsuki said, his voice laden with good humor. Quite a change from the stony demeanor he had before Kyoka had made the bet with Denki. Kyoka tried not to let her mind dwell on that and definitely didn’t look at him but kept walking up the stairs.

“I’m not stirring anything. They were already excited about the whole stupid thing before I made that bet, you heard them earlier,” Kyoka said annoyed.

“Please, you’re the expert at hearing things, right ‘Ears’? There was definitely a huge difference in the excitement level when you walked away just now. They’re all losing their minds over the high dollar amount of the bet and that you and Pikachu are exes.”

Kyoka continued up the stairs to the third floor, Katsuki still following behind her as she answered him. “Whatever. Denki and I are exes, but we’re good friends now so there shouldn’t be any drama behind that, but honestly, I think Denki’s the biggest shit stirrer out of everyone.”

“Not arguing with you on that,” Katsuki said as they walked through the third-floor stairway door into the foyer.

Kyoka couldn’t help but laugh which made her chest feel almost painful for a second like her body wasn’t used to that kind of reaction. “Not arguing with me? That’s the first,” she said, her voice ringing with good humor sounding very unlike her. She went through the door that led to the girl’s wing and Katsuki continued to follow her.

She could hear Katsuki behind her hum out a noise almost like a grunt at her statement letting her know he wasn’t amused. As she approached her dorm door it finally hit her that Katsuki had walked her up to her room. Was he already working on his boyfriend points? Was he ‘on the clock’ already with the bet? Or was this something else?

Suddenly the prospect of turning around and having to face him seemed too daunting. Honestly, she wanted to mutter out a ‘’night,’ and quickly flee to her room closing her door behind her without giving Katsuki a backward glance.

She took a deep breath and let it out telling herself to quit being so weird. It was just Katsuki. Kyoka turned and almost gasped because he was standing a lot closer to her than she had been expecting. She internally cursed her body as it betrayed her; she felt an immense heat bloom up her neck and across her cheeks.

He had the same intense seriousness emblazoned on his face like before. “You don’t have to do this, y’know,” he said, his voice gravelly and low. “I could tell downstairs… you were…”

She swallowed shallowly trying to lessen her pounding heart that had started to race due to his proximity. “Yeah… I was getting pretty pissed about everyone sticking their nose in our business.” As she finished speaking she realized how intimate that sentence sounded. Her heartbeat increased, she could hear it pounding in her ears now. She could have sworn Katsuki inched a tiny bit closer to her. She felt overheated and that’s when she realized she was wearing Katsuki’s jacket still.

It was a welcome distraction from whatever was happening between them at that moment. And what was that exactly? She had no idea. She broke eye contact with Katsuki and started removing the jacket. She handed it to him, more like pressed it against his chest because he was standing so close. “Thank you for letting me wear it,” she said to Katsuki’s neck, not being able to meet him in the eyes at that moment.

“Yeah,” he breathed out, and he took the jacket and backed away from her a little. She felt a refreshing wave of air from the air conditioner waft around her. It cooled her overheated self a little and also sharpened her thoughts back to what he had been saying to her.

She spoke, addressing Katsuki’s chin now. “But I’m cool with the bet. You and I can hang out for a week, no biggie. And if you beat Midoriya and I win the bet, I can still get the new amp I was planning on buying with the 50,000 yen anyway, and then I’ll have the money from the winnings to buy even more band equipment.” She was rambling a bit which was very unlike her. “I have a list of a lot of stuff that needs replacing so…” Kyoka took a deep breath and as she let it out her gaze slowly moved up Katsuki’s face and she locked eyes with him.

He had a small smile on his face. It reminded her of the smile he gave her on the rooftop and Kyoka’s stomach plummeted to the bottom floor. His whole countenance was oddly still and he seemed so calm in that moment, yet his irises flickered with movement, like the flames of a candle.

“So you’re a savvy band manager. We’re lucky to have you.”

She almost responded to him like he had said something sarcastic, but then she realized he was being sincere. His voice was low and the tone soft and genuine. She stared at him, mesmerized by the expression on his face. Too much time was passing and the moment was slipping into awkward territory. She finally ripped herself away from the moment and dropped her gaze.

“Well…. good night,” Kyoka said to Katsuki’s shoulder and then she turned, bumping embarrassingly into her door. She expected Katsuki to snicker at her, but he didn’t. She miraculously found the doorknob and made her way into her room.

“See you at practice tomorrow, Pixie,” Katsuki’s voice carried as she turned around and started to close the door behind her. For a brief second their eyes met and he had a smirk on his face, looking so much like regular Katsuki in that moment. It was such a tried and true expression for him, but it somehow made all of those soft slips of his features even more pronounced in her mind now.  As soon as the door closed, Kyoka made her way to her bed and plopped herself on it.

Her blanket was cool and it felt nice against her overheated body. The night had ended up not being what she expected. Katsuki had not been what she was expecting. And she also did something unexpected. Every fiber of her being wanted to pull the plug on the bet, and Katsuki was going to do that for her, but she stopped him by throwing herself into something she, moments before, wanted to stop. Before Kyoka could try to understand the reasons why she did that, she slipped off her bed, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into her sheets.

She hugged one of her pillows close to her body as she settled into a comfortable position. There was a heavy feeling enveloping her body, knowing her week was going to be so very different from her regular routine with Katsuki forced upon it. Yet that feeling didn’t weigh her down with worry or anxiety. Instead, it strangely made her feel comfortable somehow, like a warm, weighted blanket. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.