#(there were all the conflicting ages and things like with Momo ?? yeah and then WHO KNOWS what they may still be planning story wise)

[onyxiana-is-obsessed]

Love Us Not Him | Shoto Todoroki x Reader x Momo Yaoyorozu

Warnings: TodoMomo x Reader, angst, long Pronouns used; She/her Length: 8.2k

Summary: You find out Todoroki and Momo are dating and do your best to avoid them. But they just won't leave you alone... and how can you say no to the people you're in love with.

Full Name: (y/f/n) Quirk: (y/q) Age: 17 Hero Name: (h/n)

Shoto Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorozu seemed like they were made for each other. Both were respectful, intelligent, wealthy, reserved, attractive, had powerful quirks, and shared the same personality. All of their classmates were overjoyed when they found out the two had made it official. Well... almost all.

(y/f/n) wasn't happy at all when she found out both of the people she liked were now in a relationship. However, she put on her best act and pretended to be just as happy as her classmates.

What luck, how brutal could the world get? She was already sure that Momo was into guys and that Shoto didn't like her that way, but for them to be with each other? It just seemed like some cruel punishment.

But, it made sense. (f/n) wasn't the richest, she wasn't the smartest, she wasn't the strongest, and she was nothing like Momo and Shoto's friend groups. Shoto often hung out with Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka. Similarly, Momo spent quite a bit of time with them, along with Hagakure, Jirou, and Tsuyu. However, (f/n) spent most of her time with Bakugou and his friends. Kirishima and Kaminari's personality just melded well with hers. They were cheerful and so was she, to an extent.

So most of her time was spent away from Shoto and Momo, while they were constantly around each other. They often paired up together for projects or sparring practice, they even trained together outside of school. (f/n) would often see them and feel that twinge of jealousy but she always hid it, not like she had another choice. If they knew how she'd felt, they'd probably avoid her. They were already happy with each other, so who was she to try to wreck their relationship?

**

Shoto and Momo were in his dorm room, cuddling on his bed just talking about random things after a long day of training. Somehow, their conversation went from talking about weird quirks to (f/n). She had a rather odd quirk which was (y/q). Something they both actually liked.

"You know..." Momo said, looking up at Shoto. "She's really pretty. Maybe... it's because we can only watch from a distance, but she's always got this glow around her." Shoto nodded. They weren't insecure about their relationship, and they trusted and loved each other fully. So, if one of them found someone attractive, they'd point it out instead of hiding or lying about it.

"That's true," Shoto said, as his arms tightened around Momo. "She's always so... cheerful. We should try to talk to her more often."

"We should. If she'd like to. She's usually with Bakugou and his friends and doesn't really ever seem to hang out with our group." The ravenette answered.

"That's true. Momo?" Shoto started, letting go of her and sitting up, making his girlfriend do the same. He looked down, unsure of how to bring the topic up to her.

"What's wrong, Sho?" She asked, her voice gentle and sweet. Sure, they didn't mind pointing out who was attractive in their relationship, but that didn't mean it would be ok to tell each other they'd fallen for someone else.

"I... like her. A lot." He said, his voice wavering, uncertain and scared. Momo was silent, which prompted him to think she'd gotten upset. His mismatched eyes met hers, which were wide with shock. "Momo?"

"Y-You too?" Now it was his turn to be shocked.

"Wait, what?"

"I like her too!" Momo said, taking his hands. "I-I just didn't know how to bring it up to you." Shoto sighed, feeling a weight lift off his chest as he took Momo's hands and kissed her knuckles.

"You think... she'd want to be a part of our relationship?" He asked, softly.

"Like all of us?" Shoto nodded. "Hmm... I-I don't know. I'm not even sure if she likes us that way." The two laid back down, feeling so much more comfortable with each other now. This time talking about (f/n) for the rest of the night, until they fell asleep.

**

(f/n) walked into the common room, seeing her friends sitting on the couch, talking. She smiled, skipping over to Kaminari and held out her charger.

"Can I get a charge, Denki?" He nodded, moving aside so she could sit in between him and Kirishima.

"Weren't you in your room before this?" Kirishima asked, earning a nod from his (h/c) haired friend. "Then why didn't you just charge your phone there?"

"Because!" (f/n) giggled as Kaminari laid his head on her lap. "It's so cool that Denki can do it! Don't you think?" Both Kaminari and Kirishima laughed at her words.

"Well thanks, love!" Kaminari winked, making her fan her face.

"Oh, did you see that? Chargebolt just winked at me." Kirishima touched the back of his hand to his head and closed his eyes.

"What a lucky girl! If only I, Eijiro Kirishima, was a beautiful girl like you, (f/n)! He'd wink at me too!"

"I thought you wanted to be a manly man." (f/n) said, through her giggles.

"Well, I can be a manly woman!" Kirishima defended, crossing his arms.

"The manliest of them all." Kaminari commented as the trio got comfortable with each other.

Shoto, and Momo walked into the common room with Midoriya and Uraraka right behind them. The couple's eyes landed on (f/n), who seemed to be having a great time with Kaminari and Kirishima. They frowned a little before heading to the kitchen with their friends. They'd come downstairs to get some food and hadn't expected to run into (f/n).

A few nights ago, Momo and Shoto had admitted to each other that they were romantically attracted to their classmate, (f/n). Since then, Momo and Shoto would get flustered at the mere mention of her name. When they saw her, their hearts would speed up, their hands would get clammy, their minds would become fuzzy, not to mention the furious blushes on their cheeks.

After admitting they liked her and wanted her in their relationship, they came up with different ways they could ask her out. Or at least get to know her more, since they weren't super great friends. The only problem was, they could never find (f/n) alone. She was always around Kaminari, Kirishima, Bakugou, Sero, or Ashido.

During their little adventure to the kitchen, (f/n) had joined them, but neither Momo nor Shoto knew. So, Midoriya took his chance since he and Uraraka knew about their little crush on (f/n). Something they found out a couple of days ago when both Momo and Shoto came to them for help.

"Oh by the way," He called, earning everyone's attention. "I don't think I'll be able to train with you guys tomorrow, something came up! However, (l/n), why don't you train with them?" Momo's face erupted in red and Shoto's eyes widened a bit at their shy friend taking control of the situation. (f/n) looked conflicted and tried to reject the idea, since being around them only hurt her more.

"O-Oh, I c-can't, I'm not sure-"

"Come on, (l/n)!" Uraraka smiled. "It'll be fun and they don't train for too long. Just two hours. Plus, training is super important!" Figuring it would be rude to say no now, (f/n) quietly sighed in defeat.

"Sure, what time?"

"7? We usually train later at night," Shoto said, even though they had no plans to train for the next few days. "Is that alright with you?" (f/n) nodded.

"Yeah, sounds good." Before anyone could say anything, Kaminari ran into the kitchen.

"(f/n)! Kirishima's gonna go steal and hide Bakugou's homework. Wanna come watch?" (f/n)'s face lit up and she laughed nodding.

"Absolutely! See you two tomorrow!" She called before running away with Kaminari. As they turned a corner, Kaminari grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Wh-what?" She asked, looking at him.

"You like them. Both of them, right?" (f/n)'s eyes widened as she tried to shake her head.

"W-we should go to K-Kiri-" Kaminari shook his head.

"I lied. Kirishima went to go find Sero and Ashido. You like Todoroki and Yaoyorozu right?" (f/n) looked away, a small frown forming on her face, before she nodded. "I'm sorry... that it didn't work out."

"H-how did you know?"

"I saw the way you looked at them." He answered. "You get flustered every time one of them talks to you, but when you see them together, you get angry. You get that glint in your eyes." (f/n) sniffled as the emotional barrier she tried to keep closed burst open. Tears slid down her cheeks, slowly at first, but soon became a waterfall.

"Y-You're s-supposed to b-be the du-dumb one." She sobbed out, making him wrap his arms around her, rubbing her back.

"It'll be ok, (f/n)." He whispered, trying to soothe his friend. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her hands clutching his shirt as she tried to stop herself.

"E-easy f-for yo-you to s-say. Ji-Jirou's single." Kaminari didn't say anything, just tightening his arms around her.

**

After about five minutes, Kaminari took (f/n) back to her dorm room, where he stayed with her, rubbing her back as she cried, until she was much calmer.

"It hurts every time I see them together," (f/n) started, taking the tissue Kaminari held out to her. "I... don't know how, since I don't know them too well, but from what we've seen since the beginning, they've always amazed me. I've always wanted to be near them and before I knew it... I wanted to be with them. You know, just before we found out they were together... I was thinking about confessing to one of them." She laughed bitterly. "I should've known... they're so far outta my league." Kaminari shook his head.

"Don't say that. You're totally outta their league! You're outta everyone's league!" He smiled, making her scoff.

"That's no-"

"Yes, it is. Ask Bakugou, even he'll tell you that's true." Now, it was just funny.

"Now you're reaching."

"Like I said, ask him." (f/n) rolled her eyes, but was ready to prove Kaminari wrong. Besides, she needed a distraction. "You owe me after he agrees with me."

"Let's make a bet then," Kaminari said. "If I'm right, you owe me a favor. If you're right, I'll owe you a favor?" (f/n) nodded.

"Deal." (f/n) took her phone out, going into her contacts and finding Bakugou's number. She sniffled and put the call on speaker, while the two waited.

"What, dumbass?" He asked in his usual grumpy tone.

"Um, hey Bakugou." He could immediately tell she'd been crying. "Kaminari says I'm out of everyone's league."

"Isn't she?" Kaminari asked.

"She's definitely outta your league, Pikachu." He answered, gruffly.

"I told you-"

"No," (f/n) interrupted, sniffling. "He said I was out of your league. So you owe me."

"Bakugou, tell her she's out of everyone's league."

"That's cheating!" (f/n) said.

"No, it's not, because Bakugou would never say it unless it was true. He doesn't listen to me anyway-" They were interrupted by knocking on the door, both looking at each other. Handing Kaminari her phone, (f/n) walked to the door and opened it up. There stood Sero, Kirishima, Ashido, and Bakugou, the blond hanging up on the call and stuffing his phone in his pocket.

"You're crying!" Ashido said, as she hugged (f/n) who hugged her back. The group moved into her room, finding a spot for themselves.

"Who did it?" Bakugou asked.

"No one made me cry," (f/n) sniffled as the tears returned. "It's just..." She looked down, sitting next to Kaminari, who rubbed her back.

"We're not gonna judge." He reassured, handing her another piece of tissue. (f/n) wiped her tears, sniffling and looking up in an attempt to stop them.

"I think I love both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu," Everyone's eyes widened before they looked down, understanding the reason she was crying. "And it hurts every time I see them together. Then Uraraka talked me into going to train with them tomorrow. I felt bad saying no so I just said yes."

"Yeah," Bakugou said, making everyone look at him. "Yeah, you're out of everyone's league." (f/n) smiled a bit as her eyes returned to her lap.

"But-"

"No buts," Bakugou interrupted. "What? Calling me a liar?" (f/n) frantically shook her head but her tears finally stopped.

"Thanks."

~**~

(f/n) frowned as she looked at the clock on her nightstand. 6:40. She had 20 minutes before she had to meet Momo and Shoto for training. She was currently sitting with the Bakusquad, dreading going.

"Why don't you just cancel? If you're getting this worked up, what's the point?" Bakugou asked.

"Well, I already said yes."

"So? Who cares about those two dumbasses." Kirishima smacked his arm.

"She does, come on, Bakugou."

"Well, kick their asses for making you cry! I'd do it but-"

"You're not allowed." (f/n) smiled, making him huff and look away. He pretended to be angry, but he couldn't. She was one of the few people he was ok being around and he was rather protective of her. He was furious at ponytail and icy hot for making his friend cry. He already hated Todoroki, but this just fueled the hatred even more.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, princess." He rolled his eyes, taking out his phone. (f/n) found some workout clothes and went into her bathroom, getting changed into it. She came back out and sighed, looking at her friends.

"Here I go!"

"You better kick their ass, I swear to god, (l/n)!" Bakugou yelled, making (f/n) smile.

"I'll make you proud!"

"Good luck!" The others yelled as she left. She trusted them but after about five minutes, they moved to Kirishima's dorm, which was down the hall.

**

(f/n) exited the elevator and walked into the common room and sat down on the couch. She checked her phone, noting she only had ten minutes before her training session. She heard voices and looked up to see her two favorite people...

"Oh, you're early. Great!" Momo smiled to which (f/n) nodded and forced a smile on her face.

"I didn't want to be late."

"We're just heading up to Momo's dorm to get changed, we'll be back in a few minutes." Well, they were dating so, of course, his clothes were in her room. (f/n) kept her smile up and nodded.

"Sure thing!" The two walked towards the elevator and (f/n) huffed, taking out her phone as she scrolled through it while waiting. As promised, the duo returned after a few minutes, ready for training.

"Ready?" Shoto asked, making (f/n) nod as she stood up. Together, they walked to the training room, asking (f/n) some questions, which she did her best to answer without being awkward. At one point, she had gotten a text from Kirishima, so while she was texting him, she'd slowed down a bit, letting them walk ahead.

However, her eyes then looked at Momo's back, slowly trailing down her body. (f/n)'s face turned as red as Kirishima's hair and she immediately looked away, mentally cursing at herself. What the hell was she thinking?! Was this really the best time for this?! She had to restrain herself from slapping her own face as the embarrassment started to consume her.

When they were ready, they placed their belongings to the side and walked to the middle.

"We decided not to use our quirks for this one, simple hand to hand," Momo said. "Oh! You're great at it, right? Why don't you teach us some things?" (f/n) blushed at the compliment and looked down in an attempt to hide her red cheeks.

"Sure. I don't mind."

"We'll spar first." Momo stated, fixing her hair.

"Me against both of you?"

"Yeah, you're better at this than us anyway." Shoto added, to which (f/n) nodded again. Ok, this was a good way to release her anger. As long as she didn't hurt them... too much.

"Alright then. I'm ready." (f/n) declared.

**

Throughout their little session, (f/n) felt herself getting angrier. Every time she'd try to hit them, her stupid emotions got in the way, so she just stuck to defense. She could feel herself getting more and more frustrated.

Why did she have to feel this way? Why did she have to like them both? Why couldn't she like someone who wasn't taken? Why did they have to date each other? Wasn't she good enough? Fine, she wasn't as pretty as Momo. She wasn't as rich as them. She wasn't the smartest. She wasn't the strongest. But she had a good heart! She cared for them! She would never hurt them. She'd always be there to ease their burdens. She'd always love them. So why? Why didn't they want her?

Why couldn't she just be normal?!

"Momo!" Shoto yelled, making (f/n) blink. Wait... what happened? (e/c) scanned her surroundings and widened when she saw Momo laying on the ground in front of her, curling up. The (h/c) haired girl backed up a few steps.

Shoto helped Momo sit up, who groaned due to being disoriented. After a few moments, they both looked at (f/n), who seemed more confused than Momo.

"A-are you ok?" She asked, approaching her slowly and the raven-haired girl nodded.

"Th-that was good." Momo complimented as Shoto helped her stand up. (f/n) watched how concerned her boyfriend was for her... and it hurt. She wanted Shoto to look at her like that. "H-How did you do that?"

"Oh..." (f/n) stuttered, looking away as her cheeks turned red. "I-It's easy. I-I just flipped out over my hip."

"Could you show me how to do that?" Shoto asked with a light smile, almost making (f/n) melt.

"Sure."

~

"That was pretty helpful," Momo started, placing a hand on (f/n)'s shoulder. The girl tensed and looked away. "We should train again! Right, Sho?" (f/n) looked up at them and saw their hopeful smiles and felt her heart beat faster.

"O-Ok." Almost instantly, (f/n) regretted her words, knowing she'd have to go through that again. "I'm sorry again, I-" Momo shook her head, taking (f/n)'s hands in her own. Why was she so touchy-feely? But they were so warm and soft, all (f/n) wanted to do was hold them. She'd always wonder what their hands felt like. But now that she had gotten the chance to find out, it hurt.

"That was great! I learned so much! A couple of bruises never hurt! Besides, I always have Sho to ease any of my aching muscles." (f/n) nodded.

"Right, good for you."

"(l/n), are you alright?" Shoto asked, noting her discomfort.

"Yeah. Wh-why would you ask that?" (f/n) answered, her hands still being held captive by Momo.

"You've seemed... uncomfortable all throughout our training session. Are we making you upset?"

Yes.

"No, not at all. I'm just... dealing with stuff."

"Are you sure? If we're bothering you, we can stop." Shoto suggested, making (f/n) shake her head.

Stop hurting me.

"No, please. I've just been a bit distracted is all."

"About what?" Momo asked, still not letting go of (f/n)'s hands. What if she told them a bit about her troubles? Maybe they'd drop the subject? (f/n) slowly pulled her hands away from Momo, unable to handle it anymore. Her beautiful (e/c) eyes looked away.

"I... like someone. And they don't like me back. It just hurts to deal with it, you know." Both Momo and Shoto looked at each other, before frowning.

"H-How are you sure this p-person doesn't like you back?" Momo stuttered, trying to mask her disappointment. Ok, so she didn't really think this through. In her class, the only couples were Momo and Shoto, then Uraraka and Midoriya. So, she couldn't say that.

"He likes someone else." (f/n) answered, fidgeting with her fingers. Shoto didn't want to push her too far, but he needed to know.

"Who is he?" In a panic... (f/n) just blurted out a name.

"Kaminari." Regret hit her like a barreling truck, she could feel her the weight of her embarrassment starting to crush her and the tears were almost instantaneous. She blinked repeatedly, looking everywhere but at the two people she was so desperately yearning for.

"I-I'm sorry. P-Please don't cry." Momo whispered, making (f/n) shake her head as she backed up a bit.

"It's fine, really. Why would someone like him even like me? I-I'm not that special." Why would Shoto like her? "B-Besides, he and J-Jirou are practically made for each other." He and Momo were made for each other. "They fit like puzzle pieces." Shoto and Momo did fit like puzzle pieces. "I'm not supposed to feel like this." Momo and Shoto were in love. Who was she to try and mess with that?

"(l/n)." Shoto softly called out, wiping her tears. Momo rubbed her back while Shoto repeatedly wiped the tears that escaped her beautiful (e/c) eyes. They hated that Kaminari would be the reason for her crying like this, shaking and unable to breathe. If only they knew Kaminari had nothing to do with it.

Almost as if she'd been ripped back into reality, she pushed them away and backed up.

"I-I gotta go, see you guys later." Without letting them speak, she practically ran away, leaving them heartbroken.

"I guess... she doesn't like us." Momo whimpered, hugging Shoto's arm.

**

(f/n) shut her door and locked it, covering her mouth as the tears poured out of her eyes. That was the most embarrassing thing she'd ever dealt with! Why couldn't she have just walked away?! Why was she so fucking stupid?! They were both so cool and collected and she'd become some embarrassing ball of anxiety and there was no saving her now. How could she screw up like that?! That shit took some real skill.

(f/n) walked to her bed, stuffing her face into a pillow and letting out a loud scream. The embarrassment was enough to kill her.

Meanwhile, Momo collapsed on Shoto's bed covering her face as the tears welled up in her eyes. Shoto sat next to her and pulled her into his lap, letting her cling to him. It was hard to keep his emotions down, but he gave it his all. (f/n) had practically rejected them and it hurt. It hurt to know that she was in love with someone else.

"I wish..." Shoto started. "I wish she didn't like Kaminari. I hated seeing her cry." Momo nodded. "We wouldn't... make her cry like that."

"We'd love her, cherish her, keep her smiling at all times," Momo said, sniffling. "She looked so broken... so broken, Sho." His arms tightened around her as he tried to keep his composure.

"She did."

**

It had been about two hours since the incident and (f/n) still hadn't stopped crying. So she called her best friend. It didn't take long before he was knocking at her door.

Opening the door, (f/n) moved aside and let Kaminari walk in. He was immediately worried.

"I messed up." (f/n) cried as she sat on her bed. "I messed up so bad because I was too scared to leave earlier."

"What happened?" Kaminari grabbed a piece of tissue, holding it out to (f/n), who took it from him. His hands rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her crying.

"I kept getting distracted during training. God, they looked so good when they fought. But I knew they liked each other so I kept getting frustrated. After training, they asked what was wrong and I ended up telling them I was distracted because I liked someone and he didn't like me back." Looking up at the wall, she scoffed. "They asked who, I panicked and said you." Kaminari frowned.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered as she turned and clung to him.

"I made it so much worse! I made it worse..." He didn't say anything and just hugged her tightly. "Wh-what do I do?"

"I don't know."

Kaminari stayed with (f/n), rubbing her arm or running his fingers through her hair until she fell asleep. He racked his mind for some sort of plan to help her fix this, but there wasn't much he could think of. Sure, it was bad that (f/n) lied about who she really liked, but at the end of the day, did it matter? Shoto and Momo were together and just because they thought (f/n) liked Kaminari didn't mean they would break up. Why would they? They were happy together and sure, they probably felt bad that he didn't return her feelings, but... what would change? There was no point in trying to prove (f/n) didn't like him.

Both Momo and Shoto were in a similar situation, dealing with a heartbreak that didn't make much sense. Sure, they admitted to liking (f/n), but... why did they feel like their hearts had been torn out and stomped on? They had a crush on her, right? Crushes don't hurt this bad. This almost felt like... love.

"You don't think..." Momo sniffled, her obsidian eyes meeting Shoto's mismatched ones.

"I-I... no," Shoto said. "It can't be. We barely know her."

"Then why does it hurt so much?" Momo whispered, stuffing her face into Shoto's chest.

"I don't know." They were silent and all that could be heard was their quiet sniffles. They laid there for what felt like hours, but in reality had only been twenty minutes, until Shoto broke the silence. "What if... we make her forget?"

"What do you mean?" Momo asked, looking up at him. Shoto's eyes were still trained on the ceiling above him as the gears in his head turned.

"What if we make her forget about him and fall for us instead? Would that... be so wrong?"

"I don't think so... our intentions are to love her, so no." That seemed to mark a silent plan of theirs. The plan to make (f/n) fall for them and help her forget Kaminari.

**

(f/n)'s eyes moved back and forth from the board and her notebook as she silently took notes while Midnight droned on and on about Modern Arts. (f/n) would've been able to pay attention, if it wasn't for the stupid mistake she'd made two days ago. She had a tendency to hold onto all the embarrassing moments in her life, they'd plague her at the worst of times. Such as now. Her dumbass just had to go out and blurt that she liked Kaminari, even though she didn't. What would they think now?

For some odd reason, it dawned on her in class, just now. What did it matter? Shoto and Momo were a happy couple that everyone rooted for. So what if they thought she liked Kaminari? Not like it would bother them. She wished she liked Kaminari or literally anyone else. Anyone that was single and not taken like Momo or Shoto. Hell, even that Monoma kid from class 1B would've been a better option.

Great. Now she was getting desperate.

**

"Hey, (l/n)?" (f/n) looked up at the mention of her name and clutched her pen tightly.

"Ye-yes, Todoroki?"

"I was wondering if you could help me out with something after school today. Will you be free?" No. Deny. Say no. (f/n)! Say no!

"Sure, what do you need help with?"

"You'll see. Thank you. I'll meet you in the common room?" (f/n) could only nod as he left, making her slam her head on the desk. That look in his eyes, that soft, gentle, look in his gorgeous hetero chromatic eyes. How could she say no?

"I hate myself." She muttered as she started packing up her stuff. Now, she had to mentally prepare herself for whatever reason he needed her help. Bakugou was right every time he called her a dumbass. She was truly an idiot.

**

(f/n) changed out of her school uniform, slipping into something more casual. Fixing her hair and reapplying her body spray, she grabbed her (bag/purse) and stuffed her phone in it as she made her way to the elevator.

This was a bad idea and she was more than positive she was going to regret it. Yet, here she was, helping her crush out with whatever the hell it was he needed. Although it hurt to be around it, it was also somewhat easing. Just being near either Momo or Shoto eased her heart but made it ache at the same time. It was an odd mix and, most of the time, didn't make sense. But it didn't matter. That little bit of ease always helped.

(f/n) walked into the common room, looking around. It was completely empty, so she found a seat on the couch and took her phone out. It had only been a few minutes before she heard footsteps. Her bright (e/c) eyes looked up and widened. Shoto waved at her, he'd just changed into some casual clothing and boy... he looked so good.

"Ready?" He asked, making her nod as she stood up. "Come on." The two left the dorm building, walking down the road as he led her to their destination.

"Wh-where are we going?" She inquired, quietly.

"You'll see. It's... a bit of a surprise."

"But you said you needed my help."

"I do, don't worry, (l/n)." (f/n) only nodded as she quietly followed him. They made small talk, asking each other about classes and whatnot. A pretty weak conversation, nothing special.

The two arrived at a small cafe, one (f/n) didn't recognize. She followed Shoto inside and to a seat, sitting down across from him.

"So... what did you need help with?" (f/n) asked, desperately needing to know what was going on. Shoto never just invited her out like this, in fact, they barely spent time together. She didn't even have his number and she had almost everyone's number in class. Well, to be fair, she actively went out of her way to NOT get his or Momo's number. She didn't need them asking her for favors, just like this, because she wouldn't be able to say no and would feel even more heartbroken. Just like now.

"Do you recognize this place?" Shoto asked, making the (h/c) haired girl shake her head. "That's because it just opened up, about three weeks ago. I've wanted to come here since I heard about its opening, but I've been too busy. It's a quaint little place isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's actually really cute. I'm surprised I didn't hear about it at all. It's not that far away from the school, either." (f/n) smiled, her eyes scanning her surroundings. The cafe was adorable, it was bathed with different decorations all relating to coffee and sweets such as cakes and whatnot. The seats, booths, and tables all matched their desserts they offered. Almost as if it was dessert-themed.

"That's what drew me in. I saw the flyer a couple of months ago and made it a goal to come here at some point." (f/n)'s eyes finally met his, a sense of ease washing over her. "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked for you to come with me." The girl nodded, almost jumping out of her seat due to the anticipation. "I need you to help me find the perfect dessert and drink."

"For... Yaoyorozu?" There went that bit of ease she felt. However, to her surprise, Shoto shook his head.

"No. For us. We're here right now, aren't we?"

"Well yeah, but... why?"

"Why not?" Well, she didn't have an argument for that so she shrugged, agreeing to help him. (f/n) moved to sit next to him as they looked over the menu together. At first, she could feel her heart beating out of her chest at how close they were, but after a few moments, they were so engrossed in the topic of cakes, she'd forgotten all about it.

"What about the red velvet cake with the vanilla frosting?" Shoto asked, pointing to the picture of a slice of red velvet cake.

"Well yeah, but that's such a simple choice. However, if I may," (f/n) turned the page and pointed. "Direct you to this beauty over here. This adorable little shortcake. The strawberries look absolutely enticing, do they not?"

"Hmm, you pose a compelling argument. But, what about," Shoto pointed to another cake, on the same page. "This delicious Battenberg cake? I think the vanilla and strawberry checkered design looks adorable."

"There's also the classic chocolate cake with extra fudge." (f/n) pointed out.

"Now looks who's talking simple." He teased, which made her giggle and shake her head. He turned the page, partially admiring her beauty until his eyes landed on another choice. "What about this avocado cake?" (f/n) scrunched up her nose, almost sending Shoto to heaven with such an adorable face.

"That doesn't even sound good."

"Well, let's not judge now. It... could be... great." Shoto muttered, which made (f/n) laugh.

"That's not convincing. Not even a little bit. Nice try, A for effort."

"Why thank you." He smiled and the two paused, gazing into each other's eyes. Were... his eyes always so beautiful? One was a dark grey, the other a bright turquoise blue. They... almost shimmered in the rays of the sun that were invading the small cafe, lighting it up. (f/n) blinked, slowly tearing her gaze away from his and looking back down at the menu, not bothering to move. As far as he knew, she liked Kaminari. What did it matter?

But it did matter. As Shoto gazed into her glimmering (e/c) eyes, he could feel himself get pulled into her. The world slowly started to melt away and all he could see was her. Her (h/l) (h/c) framed her face perfectly, her lashes accentuated her gorgeous (e/c) eyes, those soft and alluring (pink/red) lips. He'd never been this close to her before, and he had to admit, it was almost surreal. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, the same way it did for Momo. Almost as if, there was no difference between his feelings for Momo and his feelings for (f/n). Momo was right. He was in love. But (f/n) wasn't.

He blinked back into reality when she looked away, a sad smile on her face as she pointed at another picture on the menu.

"What about this? The Esterhazy Torte?" Shoto- albeit reluctantly- looked down at the menu, where (f/n) was pointing.

"Looks delicious."

"Ah, who are we kidding," (f/n) giggled. "They all look amazing. Well, except that avocado one."

"I still have hope for it." Shoto declared, however, both of them knew that was a complete lie.

"This is a battle you will lose, Shoto." Almost immediately, both of them froze and (f/n) opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out for a second. "I-I meant... to use your hero name. But... your first name is your hero name. I didn't th-think that through." Her cheeks turned red and Shoto almost melted at the sight.

"It's alright, you can call me Shoto if you want. I don't mind." That wasn't a good idea, that would be passing a boundary (f/n) didn't want to. That meant they were getting closer and there's no way in hell would (f/n) get close to him or Momo. That was just... stupid. She needed to come up with an excuse.

"Maybe." (f/n) said, with a smirk making Shoto raise a brow.

"Maybe?"

"You heard me. It's a special privilege to have me use your first name. Let's see if you can earn it." He smiled at the challenge.

"Oh, I'll give it my all, (h/n)."

~**~

"Hey, (l/n)." (f/n) almost jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder, making her turn around abruptly only to see Momo standing behind her.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering. Could you help me with my hand to hand? I've got a couple of hours before Sho gets back and you helped me so much last time!" Of course, she had that same hopeful look in her eyes that Shoto did, making it impossible to say no. God, they pretty much had her wrapped around their fingers.

"Y-yeah, sure." (f/n) answered, quietly, looking down.

"Great! Should we go to your dorm so you can get changed?" (f/n) only nodded as the two walked toward the elevator in silence.

Now, this wasn't the first time she'd been approached by Momo. She'd already asked (f/n) to study with her about three times now, asked her to go shopping with her a few times, and asked for help with training a couple of times. Shoto had asked her to go to that cafe multiple times, he'd also asked for help with training and studying, as well as "running into her" at the mall a few times. It was odd that they suddenly wanted to be around her and as much as it hurt, (f/n) accepted it. It was the only time she got to spend with the two and it was always alone. Alone meaning it was either Shoto or Momo, not them together, so it hurt less.

(f/n) grabbed her work out outfit and walked into her bathroom, quickly getting changed into it. Once she was ready, she stepped out and gave Momo a small smile.

"Ready." Both girls walked to their usual training area, ready for a little bit of sparring. (f/n) still had the same problem, she found herself unable to hurt them so she usually just deflected their attacks. On rare occasions, she'd be able to attack, but not too much. She'd usually just drop them to the ground until they surrendered, marking the end of the sparring session.

"Thanks for helping me by the way," Momo started as they got to the training area. "I've always admired your combat abilities and I'm so glad I finally had the courage to ask." (f/n)'s face turned red at her words.

"A-admired?" Momo nodded. "That's not... n-no way."

"I have! You're so beautiful and strong, your quirk is amazing and you don't rely on it! You're such a great fighter and I know you'll become a hero in no time! You'll easily become one of the top, if not number 1." (f/n) looked away, covering her cheeks.

"Thanks." She whispered. Beautiful? Momo thought she was beautiful? Shutting her eyes tightly, she took a few deep breaths trying to calm her heart. When she opened her eyes, she let out a shriek. Momo's face was inches away from hers. "Wh-what a-are you do-doing?!"

"You're so pretty, (l/n)." Momo grabbed her hands and pulled the flustered girl towards her, making (f/n)'s entire body rigid. One of Momo's hands landed on (f/n)'s waist, while the other held her wrist. "What's wrong?" She asked innocently. (f/n) opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Her cheeks were bright red, her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and her body was frozen as if Shoto had used his ice. She watched in pure fear as Momo's face got closer and closer to hers. She felt Momo let go of her wrist, her hand sliding up her arm, shoulder, and all the way up to her face. Momo gently tilted (f/n)'s face upwards a bit, her thumb caressing her cheek.

They were going to kiss. (f/n) knew it. Her heart was about to explode and panic surged through her. She wanted to kiss Momo, she really did. But that was wrong! Momo wasn't with her, Momo... wasn't hers. She was dating Shoto and this wasn't ok. This was wrong, it was considered cheating. (f/n) wouldn't want Shoto or Momo to cheat on her, so how could she allow this?

In a blind panic, (f/n) ripped her wrist out of Momo's grip, grabbed her wrist, then spun, to flip the ravenette over her hip. Momo grunted as she felt her body get slammed on the ground. After a few seconds, she sat up and saw (f/n) standing at least twenty feet away from her.

"I-I'm sorry!" She yelled. "B-But we should start training. That's all we're doing here." Momo nodded, standing up with a groan, but ready to fight regardless.

**

Momo laid on her stomach on her bed, while Shoto massaged her aching muscles. Every training session with (f/n) was grueling and always left her with bruises.

"Her skin is soft." Momo said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Whose?"

"(f/n)'s. Her... her skin is soft. Her eyes look like (another way to describe your eye color [e.g. pools of honey/ glimmering rubies]). She smells like (a scent you like)." Shoto was silent, his hands still massaging Momo's back.

"She's... even more amazing than I thought. I remember when all I could do was watch her from a distance, wondering what she was like. I always thought... she'd be more like Bakugou, they get along so well."

"She's pretty quiet, but she has her moments." Momo smiled, her mind returning to the beautiful girl. "Her blush... it's so cute."

"I wish she was here right now. I just want..." Shoto trailed off, but his girlfriend knew exactly what he was thinking.

"You want to hold her too, right? Just have her laying in between us."

"Exactly." Shoto smiled sadly, as he warmed up his hand to continue massaging his girlfriend's back.

**

Momo and Shoto had been pinning for (f/n) for about three months now. They didn't hang out all the time, (f/n) was still very reserved, but at this point, Momo and Shoto were positive they were madly in love with her.

It was to the point where it would hurt to see her around Kaminari, who she was so comfortable with. For example, they'd often find (f/n) with her head on his lap or vice versa, they would always be together, they'd always be laughing or something. Aside from that, Kaminari and (f/n) were also on a first-name basis, as opposed to them. They'd told her she could use their first names, but she always denied them, in some way, shape, or form.

It was frustrating. If she liked Kaminari but he liked someone else, why was she always around him? It was clear from the first time they asked her it hurt her so much. So, why would she do that to herself?

Well, Shoto and Momo were determined to find out but separately. One thing they'd noted was that (f/n) was much more comfortable with them if they were alone with her without the other.

So, Shoto was currently waiting on (f/n) to basically ambush her. She'd been quite busy for a few days and he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her, and the times she wasn't busy she was around Kaminari and Sero.

(f/n) left the elevator on the way to her dorm when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned her head and came face to face with a familiar dual haired male.

"Y-Yes, Todoroki?" She asked, turning to him, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. Instead, he tightened his grip.

"Why are you always around Kaminari?" He asked and pushed her until she hit the wall. (f/n) was good at hand to hand, but in moments like these, she'd freeze up and forget what to do. So all she did was follow his lead until he'd trapped her against the wall.

"W-what? H-he's my f-friend." Panic set in as he got closer and closer to her, with her unable to escape. Her cheeks flushed a deep red as her eyes met his. She felt the same thing she did when they first went out to that cafe. His mismatched eyes were so beautiful and the longer she stared, the more the world around them disappeared.

Shoto felt the same, as he gazed into her enticing (e/c) eyes. He couldn't help it, and his body moved without his permission. Slowly, his face got closer and closer, with (f/n) closing her eyes and tilting her head up towards him.

Their lips finally met, slowly moving against each other. He could tell that she had no experience, but Shoto didn't mind, he'd teach her. He was gentle, letting his hands slid down from the wall to circle around her waist. She shakily placed her on his arms as the world dissolved away completely. She melted against him, letting him press her against the wall as his lips took hers.

After a few moments, the two pulled away, having forgotten what they were doing and where they were. Shoto leaned in again and (f/n) tilted her head upward for him, their lips moving against each other.

"Shoto?" Both (f/n) and Shoto pulled away from each other abruptly at the voice. They saw Momo standing in the distance, staring at them. (f/n)'s eyes widened, and her body went rigid.

"Oh, hello Momo." Shoto greeted, rather calmly. Momo approached them, no hostility in her movements. At this point, (f/n) was extremely defensive, not feeling safe with either of them.

"What the hell is going on?" (f/n) asked, backing away from the couple.

"We can explain," Momo said, making (f/n) stare at her. "D-do you love Kaminari?"

"What does it matter?" (f/n) asked, unsure of what to do.

"Because," Shoto started. "We're... in love with you."

"What?" She'd gone from defensive to confused within seconds. This couldn't be her reality. It must've been another dream, just a small hallucination to torment her the next day. She was gonna wake up in a little bit and she'd still be in the same situation.

"We know you like Kaminari, maybe you're in love with him. But... we're in love with you. We... want you," Momo started, determination and uncertainty in her eyes. "We wouldn't make you cry like he did, we wouldn't make you look so broken, so hurt, and alone. We'd treat your right. We'd give you all the love and support you'd ever need or want. We'd hold you tightly at night so you wouldn't feel alone, we'd be there to take care of you and love you." (f/n)'s eyes widened, it almost felt surreal. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy, and her mind was in shambles.

"W-wait." (f/n)'s hands went up to her head, her fingers sliding through her hair as she took her words in. They loved her? They were with each other. "Th-this isn't happening." She mumbled, looking everywhere except at the couple.

"We know it's a bit to take in," Shoto said. "But it's true. We'll wait for you, (f/n). We'll wait for you, until you're able to let go of Kaminari." (f/n) shook her head, finally finding the right words to say.

"I don't like Kaminari," Their eyes widened at her words. "I never did. I panicked that day and accidentally told you I liked him..."

"So... you don't love Kaminari?" Momo asked, making (f/n) shake her head.

"I don't."

"Th-then who? You were so upset that day." Shoto stated, making the girl look away, her (e/c) staring at the wall beside them.

"... you two."

"What?" Momo called out, moving closer to (f/n), who stayed still.

"Kaminari never made me cry. It... was always you two. The day you announced that you were officially a couple, I was thinking about confessing to one of you. It broke my heart and you've been breaking my heart ever since."

"We want you," Shoto declared. "We want you to be part of our relationship. We'll make up for all that pain you've gone through because of us. We'll make up for all of it and make you happier than ever... if you'll still have us."

"All 3 of us... that's so... uncommon."

"So what?" Momo smiled weakly. "We love us."

"I've never been in a relationship before, least of all with two other people."

"This is our first relationship too," Shoto said. "We'll learn together. Figure this out as we go."

"What do you say, (f/n)?" Momo asked. (f/n) was silent for a moment, thinking over all of the information provided. They felt the same about her... this was a dream come true. Why would she say no?

"Ok." She answered, making them both smile and breathe in relief. Shoto and Momo approached her, wrapping their arms around her, giving her a warm hug. For once, (f/n) felt happy with both of them with her. She melted against their touch, feeling both of them kiss her cheeks.

"I love you, (f/n)." They said in unison.

"I love you both, too." She answered, quietly before they led her towards her dorm room and went inside. The trio laid down with (f/n) in the middle. Both Momo and Shoto held the girl tightly, almost scared that they'd lose her if they let go. They were finally able to hold her, as they'd wished and hoped for all this time. That feeling of relief and happiness flooded Momo and Shoto and the two could've almost cried.

[shotorozu]

𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤

𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔬𝔰𝔥𝔦 ᥊ 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: you find yourself in a bar that you and your ex used to go to regularly. the local bartender calls your ex- shinsou hitoshi; thinking you guys are still together. 

𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗴𝘀: angst to fluff (happy ending), sfw, pro hero au (aged up), drinking (alcohol mentions and intake) ex to lovers, minor todomomo (not the center of this fic) reader is in the top 5, some swearing. 

𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱: [Y/N = your name, L/N = last name, H/N = hero name, ] f! reader, quirk not mentioned. 

𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: i also did this trope on ao3 with todomomo, so i better not see people think i plagiarized them because.. that’s literally me lol. also! i was very conflicted, bc i also wanted to do this with shouto but since I already have 2-3 fics in the making, i went with hitoshi (but let me know if you wanna see shouto’s version.) 

word count to be added when im not sleep deprived

　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚

You swivel down another shot down your throat, not caring of the burn in your nose, nor do you care about the smell of the alcohol. 

You’re never like this, this is not the best representation of yourself, no. This is not who you are as a person, and the way your former classmates look at you with concern when you chug down another shot shows how unusual this is to them.

“Take it easy..” Momo pats your back, and you exhale heavily, putting down the glass. Everyone is certain that you’ll obtain some serious hangover, almost to the point that you’d have to take the morning off to treat your hangover. They’re aware that you’re not this careless, since you're in the top 5 after all. 

But they let you be momentarily, but why you may ask?

Because this is your way of coping a breakup with your boyfriend of 3 and a half years, Shinsou Hitoshi. They’re aware on how hurt you really are, and to be real- they were the ones that asked you to come out with them tonight to distract you. 

“They’ve been going at it for a while, it’s almost concerning.” Tsuyu comments, as she tends to a slightly tipsy Mina, holding her so she doesn’t fall face first into the floor. 

The least they could do is let you be, while you're not totally blacked out.

The local bartender- Maki, looks at you with concern when you order another shot, yet they still give it to you (with the slightest hesitation) since you’re such a good friend to her. (Your rank makes you very respectable, it’s almost intimidating! but your casual friend ship with the bar tender says other wise.) 

But on the contrary, you'd know when you’ve reached the limit, and you’d probably know when they’d start refusing your requests of another shot. 

One by one, their friends depart from the table, either they were too drunk to even handle it so they were brought home, or something came up- everyone could agree that they all had some sort of worry towards their dear friend’s very out of character coping mechanism. 

“I have to go soon,” Momo sighs, when she receives a text from Todoroki- though it’s very obvious that she’s still very concerned for you, considering that she’s the only friend left. “Please take care of Y/N, Maki-san.” 

Maki nods at your black haired friend, and the creation hero looks at you one last time before leaving the bar. 

Lifting your head, your words are slurred as you request for another shot, which seems like the umpteenth time that you requested for a shot. The concerned bartender still attends to your needs, yet- she’s contemplating of calling someone if you ask for another. 

Likewise, you finish that shot in a moment, and you slump down on the table. Eyelids fluttering slowly as your laughter is filled with intoxication, your cheeks are warm from being inebriated from the intake of alcohol. 

You don’t notice how your concerned bartender dials up a number, requesting for them to pick your drunken state. 

     »»————-　➴　————-««

“Did you know the word bed is shaped like one?” 

It’s now past midnight, and you’re mouthing off about something random, the train of thought is endless (but it’s more like a shower thought ramble.) Your fists are deep into your hair- holding your head up so it doesn't hit the table, meanwhile Maki paces back and forth- still tending to other requests from the very few customers left. 

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, yeah.” They answer absentmindedly, “Man, I haven't seen you in nearly 4 months! it’s been a while. You knows how to hold your alcohol so frankly, this is the first time I’ve seen this side of you!” 

“Oh really?” You slur, continuing on to spout out purposeless words.

The bartender’s response is a total blur, words turning into background noises, and a part of you is lucky to still be conscious and still functioning (yet it's barely) 

“..But you hold it well for--” 

You’re also very lucky that you’re a little too under the influence to even register the name.

You didn't know you’d take this breakup with him harshly. The most you were expecting was just.. crying while eating ice cream. 

But no, it was an utter shit hole. 

The door busts open, and the bartender’s expression seems to brighten up “Ah, there you are!” 

You grumble, the bar’s lights causing your eyes to sting- and your head hurts too. You might need some aspirin later.. you close your eyes shut. The bartender is chatting with the unknown person, and frankly- you just wished you didn’t intoxicate yourself this much.

“Y/N,” 

The baritone voice is almost sufficient in sobering you up. Turning to the familiar voice, you see the tall figure, sporting bedraggled purple hair. 

It’s Shinsou Hitoshi. A reason why you’re in such a mess, coping with a breakup in the first place. 

You almost fall off your chair in sudden revelation to the appearance of your ex lover. It was almost like.. your drunken state was making you see things- a possible hallucination maybe? it has to be that. Maybe it’s the side effect of the growing headache?? What was in that shot?

“Ugh, I must be crazy,” You wipe your cheek from slob, your head throbbing from the growing headache. The weary purple head raises an eyebrow, and the bartender is confused by the sudden tension. It's abnormal, alright.

The reason why you broke up was because of his lack of self care. 

Again, it’s not like he was being a shithead and cheating on you, or being a total prick of a boyfriend and neglecting you, and it’s definitely not the other way around either. 

It was probably the opposite. He'd neglect himself for days on end, not caring about himself, and not caring about his own being. It was.. not what you wanted at all. 

You figured just because the both of you are rising up heroes, and also adults- he would’ve gotten a grip of not neglecting himself. 

But even habits like that don’t get old. 

“Hitoshi- seriously, when was the last time you’ve took a breather?” growing slightly irritated by Shinsou’s continuous neglect of his own self care, and also the fact that he’s clinging onto you 24/7. 

“It doesn’t matter.” He shrugs, pinching your cheek. Heck, you should be glad he wants to be with you for the majority of the days. But you can’t tolerate him when he’s constantly complaining about being tired, although making little to no efforts in taking care of himself. Heck- his dark circles got even darker- how is that even possible?

“’Toshi, it really does. You can’t neglect self care.” Your brows furrow when he chooses to ignore your words. “You’re not listening to me.” 

“You should be glad that I want to spend time with you.” 

It stung. What the hell did he even mean by that..?? scoffing, and slightly offended, you reply “That’s not the main issue.” you cross your arms “We’ve talked about this before, remember?” You reason out, giving him the nice benefit of the doubt. You'd like to be civil here. 

He ignores you once more, and you can actually feel the irritation grow within you. “I don’t want to be the reason why you neglect yourself.” 

“I’m really not, okay?” He retorts back, “Why do you always have to bring up things that don't matter?” 

Aggitated, you snap back “Wh- we’re talking about you! Hitoshi, we’ve talked about this- and you said you’d work on it! do my words mean nothing to you?” Hitoshi’s gaze flickers up, only staring at you, as if it was his own way of judging you and your intent. 

And that’s how it erupted into a full fight, and into your eventual breakup. 

You didn’t know how expressing your genuine concern for him blended into him saying things he’d never mean in his entire life. He doesn’t stop you when you walk out, not saying a thing at all

There was no verbal breakup. It was just.. there. 

The unknowing bartender interrupts the nonverbal tension, “I thought you’d be a lot happier, y’know.” 

“We-”

“..’ll get going now, thanks again.” Before you know it, Hitoshi’s hooking your arm around his shoulders— as he walks to the door, leaving the very familiar bar.

It’s awkward, surely. You’re not sure why he was there, and you’re not so sure as to why he decided to come to your aid in the first place. If Maki called him, and he was requested to come to you in question, then he could’ve just..

“..sent someone else,” You mumble. You reek heavily of alcohol, and your skin is undeniably warm. Frankly, he doesn’t remember the last time you were like this— was it the first time you had a drink? it was years back at this point.

You’re pretty.

Beautiful,

That’s one thing that hasn’t change. Surely, what changed things was the fact that he said some.. horrible things— and refused to even listen to your concerns, which ultimately cause your breakup. His relationship status changed into some lonely and young hero, and his heart ached in different ways.

But you’re still very beautiful, to him.

Doesn’t matter if you’re all dolled up for a hero interview, or a mess on a off saturday. You’re still beautiful.

But now— he’s focused on your words, and he’s taken aback when you continue to speak, causing the both of you to stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

“You’ve coulda asked s-someone else to pick.. me up.” Your words are slurred, a normal side effect of being drunk. However, seeing your ex has surely sobered you up.

“That’s true,” Shinsou moves to continue walking, so you guys weren’t standing on the middle of the side walk on a cold early morning.

“What are you even doing at a bar at 1am?” He changes the subject, but you’re still caught on to your previous question. “You didn’t answer my question at all, meanie.” Her grip is firm, so there’s no way of budging it.

His laugh lacks humor, yet he feels obligated to answer her. Or else they’d be stuck on the sidewalk, due to her hero grip.

“It didn’t feel right,”

“Yeah sure.” You grumble, “Because you suddenly care.”

“I’ve always cared, Y/N.”

“Really?” You say, not really believing him anyway. “You seemed pretty sure with your words back then to care.” Despite being toxicated, your words have undertones of venom

“You may say that, but.. I’ve always cared.”

“Then why the hell did you say all of that back then, huh?” Overwhelmed by seeing your ex, who you still fucking loved by the way— tears grow at your eyes. “If you’re lying, stop it.” You say, literally not in the mood to be lied to right now.

You’re literally being carried by your ex, while intoxicated, while also having a throbbing headache.

“I’m not.” Hitoshi answers firmly. A certain edge grows in his throat, and he hates it.

“Yes you are,” Your voice is now wobbly, it’s really just a mix of your overwhelming emotion, as well as your drunken state. “You would’ve told me that weeks ago!”

You were always right, and he knows it. Ever since from the last moment you shared with him, your words were just.. nothing but the sheer truth. Yet, he’s only hurt you— because of his denial.

He knows you’re right, and he knows that he had his habits of neglecting his own care. Though that’s why he decided to change, that you were in fact- correct all this time.

And he was just an ass to even admit it.

“You’re right,” His fists crumple, grip tight as he fights his sudden urge to break. “You were always right. I’ve always cared, and you’ve always cared about me. Yet I was worried of changing, not being around you just so that I could take care of something that’s not really important-”

“But you are, Hitoshi,” You sob, nearly collapsing onto the ground— “You matter so much, yet you don’t even see it, and if I’m going to contribute to your destructive ways— then...”

“How could you? If you don’t care about my words, then do you care about yourself..?”

Shinsou sighs, bending down to meet your level— you’re gasping and sobbing into his chest, tears angrily running down your cheeks.

“I know, kitten, and I’m sorry.” Wiping your tears with his thumb, he speaks once more. “That’s why.. I’ve thought about what you’ve said, and I decided to take care of myself a bit more, I want you to know that.. I do care.”

You glance up at him, the city lights luminating his face— enough for you to see the adorning expression he’s sporting.

“..really?” You speak, in a nearly hush tone, again— you’re still very drunk, and overwhelmed with emotions. This could’ve been passed off as a fever dream, and you could’ve been normal with it.

“Yes, Y/N.” His mouth perks up into a small smile.

“Then.. would you allow me to start over with you again?”

Pushing against Hitoshi, you envelope him with your arms— it’s almost cliché and dramatic, the way you collapse into his arms like it’s the last day on earth.

But.. Shinsou’s glad he has you again. Finally a chance to prove that he’s changed.

ーーーーーーー

BONUS

You sit on the counter of your apartment, hands covering your face— as a way to shield your eyes from the prodding sunlight that peaks from the windows.

“This should help,” Hitoshi hands you a cool glass of water, “The way you hold your alcohol is terrible,” You chug down the glass of water, and you take a jab at him with your feet.

He hisses at the sudden attack, and only chuckles, “You’re mad because it’s true kitten,” He teases

“Shut up,” You draw him in with your leg, setting the glass down, “Just kiss me already,”

And so he does, pressing your lips against his— savoring the sweet warm moment he’s been practically starved of for nearly 4 months.

He pulls back, his expression showcasing that he’s tasting the aftermath.

“Ew, you taste like beer.”

You glare at him, and take another light jab, “Of course I do, Idiot.”

Despite saying all of that, he pulls you in once more.

　　　　　　　˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading (literally the first fic i’ve ever posted, so y’all BETTER like it or i’ll 💀)

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing

do not plagiarize my work :)) (literally don’t, it’s 3:26am on a tuesday.)

[yume-fanfare]

wonder egg priority has a lot of unreliable narrators:

(spoilers under the cut, a long explanation/thoughts on neiru, ep 11 and ep 12 and some theories. feel free to add on! this got long lol)

all we know about neiru's sister, who supposedly stabbed her and then killed herself, was told to us by neiru, who had been told so at the icu.

we have barely seen her statue. and neiru is essentially lab-made, we do not even know what exactly constitutes as a sister. she doesn't know her parents, her sister was not mentioned at all in her focus episode, nor does she appear in the ed like the other statue girls

for all we know, maybe she didn't even have one and:

she was lied to at the icu

she was implanted fake memories

she lied to us

point 1 is the easy solution, and point 2 is included because i think it's possible, given japan plati's impressive technology. but, in the end, they mean the same thing: they position her as on "our side", a deceived girl. she was born with a purpose, for a reason, with a mission to accomplish since the beginning, and she has been raised for that.

neiru, kinda like the accas, grew up under watch, and was essentially treated like an experiment during her childhood. they can even see her Dreams, i don't think she has much privacy. even if she is the president of the company (interesting, her business card said vice-president), she may not have that much power. she is a child, after all, prodigy or not

point 3, however, is interesting, as i've seen people point out her growing resemblance to koito, the person ai is fighting for. neiru was the first girl to be introduced to us, and it looked like she'd been fighting longer than ai, yet she has not finished yet (it's interesting, really, how they're completing their missions in reverse order). neiru also knew about japan plati's involvement but didn't say anything. i don't (want to) think she's Malicious, but there may be something weird going on with her

so, in my opinion, i lean more towards points 1) & 2), but who knows

-

episode 11: the entirety of frill's story is told by ura-acca

now, i don't think i have to explain why ura-acca is unreliable. the accas have been suspicious since the beginning, filling a kyubey sort of role in the story, the ones who drove the girls to fight

so, they are unreliable narrators. they're sexist, and have odd views on the world (the comment on girls and boys suicides). neiru called them out on the suicide thing on an earlier draft, we know their words are not to be taken as truths

truth is, we don't know if frill killed acca's wife. ura-acca couldn't possibly know either, he wasn't there. we don't know about himari either, much less about all the other girls frill supposedly "tempted to death"

many others have pointed this out: the accas are looking for someone to blame, to try and make sense of a tragedy. i don't think frill has a "magic button" that she can just press and make people kill themselves. she could also just be a metaphor, too, to symbolize a death wish. but, what is a fact is that, as they've said, there isn't a link between the suicides, other than "it Must have been frill because people don't kill themselves", which is the accas' opinion, not a fact

and well, i have watched Bad anime where the conflict was, indeed, that the villain could magically make people kill themselves, but said anime was bad since the beginning, you know

the whole "someone to blame" appears with the wonder killers too. it's not like there was one single thing that drove them to the edge. ai 2 was bullied at school, sawaki isn't the Only problem she had. if he disappeared her problems would still be there, just minus one. kotobuki didn't actively kill herself, she died because of an experiment, so her reaction to seeing her wonder killer was just "huh, yeah, i guess this is the guy that annoyed me the most". the idol fans from the 3rd episode were following another person, the girl who saw ghosts wasn't antagonized by a single person. however, this is the system set up by the accas, because they think it works.

i think everything, eggs and statues, are an artificial environment that can be set up just by pushing a button, because that's how they think frill did it

and why do they do it?

there has to be an ulterior motive. even if they are deluded and truly doing it "for himari", whatever it is that they think they'll achieve, there has to be a more clear explanation or they wouldn't have gotten that many other people into it. someone pointed out, at the end of kotobuki's episode, that it looked like they had made her neiru's wonder egg so she'd turn off kotobuki's life support, and, it could be. they're also, well, mannequins, that's a huge thing we don't know about yet. at first i thought maybe it was some research on immortality, but i'm not so sure about that anymore

kotobuki's case is very interesting. it's the first one that heavily implies the egg was especially made. kotobuki had been monitorized her entire life, so wouldn't be too hard to turn her into an ia, input her personality into an algorithm and tune it in neiru's dream.

so, who's to say all the other kids weren't like that too. none of the girls knew them to say "hey, they're acting different than usual". i think the accas took them from news reports about suicides and inputted them into the program, in neat little folders, one in relation to each of the girls. ai 2 could have been made simply out of their regular monitorizing of her since the beginning

and, how do the girls who committed suicide come back to life? do they really. do they really. we Still don't know if they really do and it's interesting that they still haven't shown us

-

episode 12: mr sawaki and the dream worlds

the conclusion i got from ai and the wonder killer's battle was that that sawaki, like all the other elements in that dream (koito), were all ai's perception

the wonder killers are cartoonized and exaggerated versions of the real person they're modelled after. sawaki wouldn't say out loud all those things, he's not stupid, and neither did any of the other wonder killers actually say All of That to the victims.

the entire monologue, thus, as ai points out, was supposed to be all in her head. because the fishy things she'd seen were all from her point of view, and she hadn't actually seen him do anything wrong, so maybe she had misunderstood, and that's why she gives her mother her blessings in the end, because he's actually a nice man

things like momoe saying he rescues cats, and seeing a creepy shot of a Lot of cats instead of a tender one of him holding a kitten, were all ai's image of him

so, all of it was supposed to be just an unreliable narrator

now, i, personally, don't like this. the aged-up painting titled latent heat is plain creepy and kinda gross. and that was a real-life Fact, unaltered. someone said that maybe ai was being naive, but episode 12 is a bit late for that

so. mr sawaki redemption arc. how we feeling folks.

please feel free to tell me your thoughts about this! i'd love to hear them, maybe i'm just being too sceptic lol

[svnarintaro]

what is wrong with me..

authors note: i want to talk about how cute he is. but honestly i want to write something kind of angsty cause why not :p also i kinda wrote this all in one go without reading over it :??

synopsis: shoto todoroki knew for a fact that he was sick, his stomach felt funny when looking at you, being near you or even hearing your name. he would do anything to avoid you even if it meant being harsh and blunt, until you confront him about how he has been acting

warnings: angst with a fluffy ending :)

word count: 1.6k words

todoroki shoto x reader

“hey todoroki is something wrong?” midoriya asked. at this point the the split haired boy stared at you, well it was more like he was glaring at you. the unfamiliar feeling in the pit of the stomach growing the longer he stared. “they make me feel sick midoriya. i can’t help but feel like they’re hexing me or something, my stomach feels all funny just by being around them.” todoroki explained in a monotone voice, he didn’t know how to feel about you, ever since the USJ attack he just couldn’t see you as a friend or acquaintance; you were different. and as he stared iida trying to get him to stop staring “todoroki it is very rude to stare please respect people even from a distance,”

“he’s glaring at you again, y/n..” you sat up a little straighter as toru pointed out the pair of eyes drilling holes in the back of your head. the only people who knew that y/n had a crush on todoroki was toru and jirou. you knew that you had no chance with momo being in your class, you never hated her she was everything that you wished you could be: rich, smart and nonetheless beautiful and most of all she was liked by todoroki. you sighed with a tinge of hurt, “i just don’t know what i did wrong to make him hate me so much,” you balled your hands into fists as you prayed the bell to ring to end the lunch period. 

the final class of the day finally came and it was time to go back to the dorms. as the students flooded back into the their respected buildings, as the students of class 1-A dragged their feet a pink student skips towards the front of the students, “GUYS LETS HAVE A MOVIE NIGHT!!” the class looked around to see if the others were willing to go up to the offer. “guys i think it would be a fun idea to destress.” and all of them started to agree.

they all changed out of their uniform to the comfortable clothing to their liking as they all piled in the common room one by one. “hey kaminari thanks for bringing your tv down here for this,” mina laughed to lift the air a little bit before the movie started. “yeah no problem, thanks for letting me choose the movie,” denki laughed, ‘i hope the guys don’t make fun of me for choosing this movie.’

you finally walk in late with the common room while laughing with kirishima, “okay listen i am 100% certain that fat gum watches shoujo anime,” the red head started to rant and to todoroki’s demise, the same feeling in his stomach but now a new one appeared; wrath towards his shark toothed classmate for making you laugh, in fact the fact that you laughed made him even more angry. “no way eiji i know for a fact he watches slice of life,” and as you responded, todoroki’s emotions stirred. 

“OI PIKABRAT WHY ARE WE WATCHING MEAN GIRLS” bakugou’s anger clearly made everyone excited and the female classmates defended the film. as you were looking for a place to sit down, you were scanning the options and the spot on the couch that had a decent view was next to the one person who had an issue with you. ‘shoot i really want to watch the movie but i don’t want to make him hate me even more,’ your thoughts conflicted with your emotions for every inch of your body really wanted to sit next to him and just be within his presence. “hey todo-” “midoriya can we switch spots,” you got cut off by his monotonous voice but he looked straight at you, “i feel sick.”

a sudden wave of emotions overcame you then and there. the person that you longed to be around, the person that motivated you to do better said that you made him feel sick. “hey y/n here sit next to me,” toru nagged you to sit next to her and tsu on the ground, “you want to stay at my dorm and talk for a while?” the invisible girl beside you asked and you complied and turned away to face the screen. as your conversation was going on todoroki looked down at you, ‘why does my heart suddenly feel heavy? is it their doing?’ his eyes were no longer on the screen but on you.

as the weeks flew by with great speed, the days came faster than expected; but as they passed todoroki got ruder with every encounter. “why must i remain in a conversation i have no interest in conversation.” “i have better things to indulge in.” “get out of my way i have more important matters to deal with at the moment.” to make it so much worse, him an momo got even closer.

you had enough.

it was the weekend and no one had anything to do. you were going back down to the kitchen to refill your water bottle, you finally reached the kitchen and opened your bottle. stepping in the kitchen you see a familiar person, your mouth was tempted to speak but in the end you just walked past him and turning your back to him to get your water, “why didn’t you tell me you were in here, are you here to trick me or even hex me even further?” a voice broke through the silence. 

“... why?” your voice was shaking, not out of fear; but rather from anger. you were fed up with his attitude, you were fed up by not being treated like a regular human being, you were fed up by him. “why must you act like a royal douche?!” you yelled at him with utmost certainty and volume. taking a step towards him, the boy stepped back in retaliation. “do you have some sort of superiority complex to act like this towards me?” todoroki’s back soon hit the wall. 

no one has ever seen you this furious, you always were very calm and collected. seeing you mad made his blood run cold, in pure intimidation. “is this funny to you?” you grabbed his collar to make him look you dead in the eye, ”do you seek some sick entertainment in hating me? when i haven’t done anything wrong.” tears were threatening to roll down your cheek. todoroki’s eyes opened wider, he felt sad, he felt mad for making you think hated you. he found that your statement was the opposite of how he felt. “do you just have some sort of issue with me that bothers you that much? then fine. to resolve that let me spell it out for you too since you don’t bother to do so.”

“i. hate. you. too.” 

you emphasized every word. ‘i need to end my pain, i can’t have him continue to walk over me and hurt my feelings any longer’ you let your grip on his clothes loosen. taking a break from your emotional exhaustion you breathed out aggressively and turned away, indicating that the conversation was over, and so was your tolerance of him. you picked up your water bottle even without water in it you just wanted to get out of the kitchen, no you wanted to be out of his sight.

as soon as you took one step forward you felt stiff arms wrap around your waist, you froze as he locked your shoulder in place by placing his chin onto it, his warmth was pleasant and you wished it didn’t feel as good. “please.” his breath fanned past your ear, “i don’t hate you-” you needed to stop this madness. “oh please shut up already! do you know what you said? i make you sick,” your thoughts ended spilling faster than you expected and as you spoke you pushed your elbow into his body, but to no avail his grip tightened. “my mere presence pisses you off doesn’t it? now let me go already, you can do this with momo since she is obviously your girlfriend so bother her instead.” you couldn’t stop yourself from crying, from all the things you felt inside crying just was the simplest way of expressing it at the given moment. with the weight of the moment todoroki just sunk his head into your neck and began to speak, “i.. just get this feeling in my stomach when i’m around you, and i get feelings of anger seeing you with others, seeing others making you happy while i’m making you feel like this. i’m sorry, i’m so so sorry y/n.” 

“so please, don’t say things that aren’t true. in full honesty i thought you hexed me into feeling like this, but aizawa told me this was completely normal ‘for boys my age’ and midoriya said something about a ‘crush’ and i wish you feel the same way you know? this confession thing is really hard when the person you have feelings for thinks your dating someone else.. so please. can you let me court you?” todoroki loosened his grip and gently guided your body to face him however the moment you were about to speak a bunch of voices came from the outside of the kitchen. 

“toru stop pushing me i know you’re there,” “momo i can’t see go to the back,” “mina keep your voice down please i’m trying to listen to them.” “guys isn’t it wrong to listen when they need privacy?” 

“well hello there ladies? mind telling us why you were listening to me admitting my doting feelings for y/n?” “shut up shoto don’t push it-” “did you just call me by my first name? how bold,” “hmph”

[stillness-in-green]

I felt like the plf war was rushed

1.Plf advisors getting hype but no payoff

2.Only miruko, Momo, and Kirishma got time to shine

3.Machia got defeated to easily

4.The war felt more like a raid

I don't know if I feel like it was rushed, per se--it's by far the longest arc in the story so far by number of chapters, and would be even if you cut off the Tartarus jailbreak and the entirety of the hospital aftermath. What it absolutely does feel like to me is unbalanced.

You note that the "war" feels more like a raid, and you're right. As a caveat, it's worth keeping in mind that "Paranormal Liberation War" as a name for the arc in question is entirely an invention of the fanbase. To the best of my knowledge, the reasoning for the name was that big action shonen series like BNHA (Naruto, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, etc) always have a war arc, so what we were seeing in the lengthy, mass combat confrontation with the PLF had to be HeroAca's equivalent. It's not a term that's in the manga itself, however, not called as such by the characters, not referred to as such by Horikoshi or his editors, not even namedropped in chapter or volume titles. If it feels like a raid, that's probably because that's what it was intended to be.

And that's the problem, really. This arc shouldn't have been about a couple of raids; it should have been about a war.

(Below the cut: a bunch of fired-up complaining. Uses some harsh language, and talks about both injuries and deaths we did see and some we logically should have.)

From the outset, we were told that the resources Shigaraki had amassed were "on par with, or even stronger than" the resources of the hero-saturated society. Yet, we're expected to believe that a force that strong is so easily taken down by a single coordinated set of raids? Yes, the heroes had the benefit of surprise, but there's just so much that doesn't work for me.

First off, and to get this out of the way, it's ridiculous that the heroes even had the benefit of surprise. The MLA had an unknown number of hero double agents. They had people in the government; they had people in the infrastructure. This is an organization that had been living undercover completely unsuspected for multiple generations--how did the HPSC ever manage to carry out a massive, country-wide investigation on such a secretive group and coordinate multiple simultaneous, comprehensive raids without a single person finding out and alerting the higher-ups over a period of only three and a half months?

When exactly did Hawks have time to go and revive Best Jeanist--which he tells us he did personally--such that none of the bugs and micro-cameras he was covered with picked up on it, and both he and BJ could be back in the positions they needed to be in for the raid to begin?

How did Skeptic find out about the raid such that he only discovered it at the last possible second and not minutes, even hours, before it kicked off? How did hundreds of heroes (and even "hundreds" is being conservative, given the fact that they had seventeen thousand people to detain) close in on the villa without anyone from the PLF noticing, either Skeptic with his information network or mundane precautions like people on watch?

Even granting the heroes their surprise advantage--which I don't want to--if the advisors were all supposedly "stronger than the average hero," why didn't we see any of them winning? Okay, yes, Hose Face beat Midnight, but he had every possible advantage in that "fight"; I hardly count it as some big impressive defeat that shows us that the villains were holding their own.

Here's another thing: the MLA styled themselves as an army--they were demonstrably trained in troop tactics. When we saw them in Deika, even their nameless on-the-ground people were capable of coordinating with each other on the fly in response to the movements of the enemy, as we saw come up repeatedly:

Yeah, they were off-guard at first, but as soon as the advisors made the front line (which, you'll note, was immediately), that disadvantage really should have begun eroding. Certainly once Geten--Geten! The number one MLA member most willing to disregard collateral damage! And there he was being a proper leader!--got to the front and started yelling orders, we should have seen the PLF rallying, and I can't imagine any sensible justification for the tides not turning when a) Re-Destro showed up to occupy the highest-ranked hero on the field, b) a bunch of heroes peeled off to try to stop Machia only to get trampled for their efforts, and c) Trumpet got dug out.

You know who don't style themselves as an army, though? Heroes. Oh, they get some basic lessons in cooperation as students, but the extent of such lessons we see is stuff like "why it's important for heroes to have signature moves"--so that on group missions, their reputations will precede them and fellow heroes will already know their shtick. U.A. teaches the odd lesson plan that involves the kids fighting in groups, but there's a huge difference between you and 3 to 6 of your buddies fighting a similarly-sized group in a practice fight, or a handful of heroes teaming up to take down some criminal low-lives, and the mass combat scenario that was the raid. For heaven's sake, look at our closest other equivalent: the raid on the Hassaikai base. At every turn in that encounter, the heroes let themselves get split up and picked off, winnowing down their numbers. It's even explicit in the narrative that hero team-ups were, in the age of All Might, uncommon, and heroes are only just beginning to adjust to fighting in teams. The erstwhile MLA should have had the advantage there.

As to Machia's defeat, I think the big problem with it is not how it happened, per se, but the timescale involved. The plan itself was sound enough, and even with all the kids' efforts, it still took Machia reaching Shigaraki and not getting any new orders to follow to really do him in. Given what we can extrapolate about his movement speed, though, I just don't think the kids should have had time to set all those traps, especially given how much of that equipment would have had to be fabricated by Momo on the fly. I know she's gotten stronger and all, and good for her, but you're telling me that in the four months between Joint Training and the raid, she went from passing out because she created a bag of goodies and one (1) cannon to being totally fine and still able to coordinate her fellow students while cranking out 23 jars of sedative, dozens of feet of rope/cable, multiple fire-resistant coats, explosives they somehow had time to bury, and three cannons?

For fuck's sake, Jirou gave Machia's ETA as under ten seconds. Yeah, Mount Lady slowed him down, but "only a little"--how much time could she possibly have bought them, that the kids were able to to coordinate and enact everything that plan involved?

You guys, go read this post by @codenamesazanka. Machia is so fast. So unbelievably, incredibly fast. "Twice as fast as the fastest train in the world" fast. "Horikoshi clearly did not stop to think about the distances involved here" fast. Three miles in ten seconds fast. It would have been hard enough to square with the needs of the plot that the kids were sufficiently far from the villa to have the kind of time they needed to swing Momo's plan at all, but Horikoshi explicitly letting Machia get right on top of them before the kids even start just makes it completely impossible for me to credit. Machia clearly being slower aboveground than he is when burrowing does not make that much difference to my suspension of disbelief.

My other big complaint? More people should have died, for real. The PLF warriors would not have been holding back. They were ready and willing to kill anyone they came up against. The heroes did have to hold back, because heroes, as we're told over and over again, are not supposed to kill, no matter how dire the circumstances. That difference in ability to exercise force should have been yet another significant advantage for the PLF. I could write an entire list of characters that I think could have reasonably been killed during the raids. That wouldn't be to say that I think any individual, specific character on that list should have died, just that, based on the parameters as they were presented to audience, some number of them should have.

I mean, honestly. How did Horikoshi wanna show us Gang Orca's unmoving claw in the wake of Machia's passage and not have Gang Orca on the list of the dead? How did Fat Gun run right into a mass melee and still have enough fat left over afterward to survive getting trampled by a walking mountain? How did Thirteen survive not getting pulled out of the hospital basement when Shigaraki's Decay hit? How did Trumpet survive getting a staircase dropped on top of him? How did Gran Torino survive a fist through his tiny old man chest cavity?

I could go on and on, but it's not just about the deaths, either. I'm not saying that Kamui Woods necessarily should have died by swinging himself face-first into a blast of blue fire, but I am saying that he should have been out of commission for longer than three goddamn days. You bet your ass I'm saying that after telling us that Hawks' weak point is fire, making us watch him spend at a solid minute or more with his wings wholly enveloped in Dabi's 2000 degree flames, and having Dark Shadow exclaim that his back is completely burned away, Hawks should never have grown his wings back, much less so quickly that they were already visible under his shirt a single day later.

More deaths, more maiming--heck, even more retirements. I'm not saying I love that kind of thing in my fiction--I don't, actually. I think an overreliance on it is a sign of edgelordy nonsense. But the scenario that we had demanded to be treated with the kind of gravity that would have led to such an outcome. To set up a conflict like the raid and have the villains only barely be able to scrape a partial escape, to try to tell us that Shigaraki's victory in Deika granted him such a terrifyingly powerful force only to have them lose every battle they got into, to tell us this was a blow that shook Hero Society to its core, only to be so unwilling to kill or retire any heroes the audience cares about that Midnight is literally the only significant loss… It doesn't work. None of it works.

I don't have much to say on which characters did or didn't get a highlight. I think there were a few more people than you listed that got some good scenes--Tokoyami and Uraraka both got material I liked quite a bit; Dabi famously out-trended the U.S. presidential election on Twitter when he (literally) came clean, and Mr. Compress gave us some wonderfully interesting and characteristically opaque material to chew on. On the whole, though, adding more character moments would only have been dragging out the problem: the scale of the PLF's threat and the HPSC's chosen method of dealing with it are simply incompatible with the feeble "neither side truly won or lost" resolution we got.

And that's my rant on that--thanks for the ask!

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, Se03. ep 5,(part 1)

In part 1 of this post, more than analyzing, I want to understand few confusing things first. I’m not annoyed or angry, I’m just confused & trying to piece things together, so, kindly don’t feel off with my usage of  (!!!) & (???). lol. I’ll ONLY discuss two things here that confuse me a lot. ( Real ep review/ analysis will be in part 2)

1- Momiji’s romantic love for tohru (the real love triangle). What?!!!!!

I’m so shocked that momiji loves tohru romantically! So, in order to understand ( where did this come from!!) I re-visited his scenes with tohru since se01 & trying to see if I missed anything! Below is my speculations:

Is it love at first sight?!!! When Momiji first met tohru he kissed her on the cheek. I’ve always thought lightly that in the eyes of the reserved Japanese (bowing is greeting), all Europeans (kissing on the check is greeting). hence, Momiji’s kiss, he’s half Europea. However, perhaps it is a Kureno/ Arisa type of love at 1st sight/kiss?! kureno nearly kissed Arisa on the lips on their 1st official meeting. But Kureno/Arisa kiss was meant to be romantic/sexual with adult kureno’s “ I wanted to taste her lips”. but Momiji’s is a peak on the cheek & he was a child, so... I don’t think he’s struck by love before he’s officially introduced to us the audience.

Is it gradual growing love like kyo’s ? in all Momiji/ tohru eps, he always just wanted to play with her, visit places & spend time together.  (hot spring & beach vacation) are his own ideas. But momiji didn’t want tohru exclusively. He intentionally invited both yuki & kyo to the hot spring & even was begging kyo to come. He invited all zodiacs to the beach & wanted all to spend time together. I believe that the hot spring ep especially showed momiji as this playful, innocent & naive kid, wanting to share tohru’s females’ hot spring section. I don’t think momiji was madly in love at that time. He was a child going “ waaaa~, kyo hit me” &  jumping here & there. 

So, summer vacation? but then again, Momiji slept with the children & tohru doted on them all. He defended tohru but they all defend her & love her. he said to kyo that he “selfishly wanted to be with tohru” but I didn’t  catch any romantic hints from that. Was it really that time?? they all wanted to spend time with tohru. Yuki said “ I’ll kidnap you”, kyo agreed to go to the beach right away, kisa was glued to her to the point of annoying hiro! So, when? & why not let us as the audience know abt momiji’s feelings.

Is it related to opening up to tohru abt his family issues? He confessed to tohru abt his dad, mom & momo. She cried for him & hugged him. I never got the feeling in all those scenes that he was in love! it seemed to me like friendship love similar to hana’s/Arisa’s or siblings love substituting his nonexistent relationship with momo.

Is it just me?? I always saw momiji as this baby in toddler clothes, jumping, laughing & a ray of sunshine! A child but with the most mature heart & mind. Tohru didn’t help momiji, he was already helping himself first & reaching healthy conclusions abt how he should deal with his own traumas. So, perhaps (Me) not seeing him as a teenager stopped me from seeing his romantic love? but they showed me hiro/kisa’s love. Elementary school kids! so?

Regardless of when he fell in love or how, the point is, this is heart-breathtakingly tragic! cuz (a) tohru never saw him more than a child at first, then as a precious friend, (b) she’s intensely in love with kyo, which brings us to tohru’s core issues. (Tohru loosing yet another loved one). Tohru’s own issues aren’t fully explored yet, but her love for kyo has been blatantly hammered to us since se01 finale! this is because kyo being locked in the cat room equals (death) which parallels her mom’s (death). Tohru will be living her tragic trauma again but this time, kyo replacing kyoko! Thus, giving tohru a room for growth & character development.Tohru’s intense love for kyo was shown in by the drastic change in her attitude in se01, ep.24, chasing firmly after him even when he pushed her & refusing to let go until he’s back home cuz she wants to! then yuki blatantly saying “ she loves him, too, the way she looks at him“  im se02, ep22 & “don’t worry, tohru, he won’t accept (the other girls confession)” in se02, ep 17 & all her scenes with kyo in that ep where she’s scared he’ll let go of her & other scenes throughout the 3 seasons.

...so why momiji’s impossible & unrequited love is introduced?

I believe it is to push kyo to not let go of tohru. To throw kyo into this internal conflict between selflessly letting go of tohru so she could be happy (like hatori did with kana) & selfishly wanting her to be his lover ( like haru). Kyo himself expressed these two conflicting thoughts in se02, ep, 9 “ I hoped we could always be together somewhere  far off (selfish love) & “ I don’t want to take anything from you (selfless love). So, momiji is challenging kyo in a way making him realize that selfish love might not be bad afterall & selfless love could be harmful! cleverly reversing the two concepts. So, I get why this love triangle was introduced. but whyyyy momiji! T_T.. choose someone else, Writer-San! poor Momiji we learned abt his love the same ep we learned it hopeless & he can’t pursue! T_T. couldn’t you at least put the two scenes far away, so I get time to grieve his broken heart! T_T.

2- Yuki/Machi ( Yuki is in a such hurry!!!!)

You could use the analogy of yuki’s starting the story as a (baby/child) taken cared by his mother (tohru) who taught him to be a person (all se01), Yuki took this knowledge  as a (kid/teenager) & formed friendship on his own with (kakeru) in (se02). it is not after yuki became a true equal friend to kakeru, chocking him & equally teasing him, that Machi was allowed to talk abt her self as a real character with agency & thoughts (se02, ep24), now yuki must be a (teenager/Man) & fall romantically in love, hence (se03, eps 2 & 3). All this is amazing. So, I kinda expected the following:

yuki won’t take as long as kyo in confessing/ realizing romantic love since he/machi don’t have a shared baggage nor obstacles from the past.

 he won’t be as fast as haru’s “ i love you/ kiss/ make love”. But then again, Haru & Isuzu have already known each other for years & are already in love, they just put a name to their desires & went on with it.

So, yuki should be in the middle, noticing, knowing abt the person, crushing, then realizing love & wanting a future together! Cuz yuki is this type of person who values taking time thinking thoroughly, right??

I’m confused as yuki wanted to confess the curse & to be with machi romantically right after the machi background scene? I know not everything should be on-screen & him falling slowly in love could be off-screen...  the flower is a yuki/machi “ noticing her stage”, her fighting with him over the red leaf is “ noticing him stage” for her. but there’s only ONE intimate scene of them together! Her raw tears when he comforted her in her flat (the chalk scene is bonus). but.. I never expected that yuki is planning to confess his curse & feelings this early!!!!!! yuki! are you SURE she loves you? ( I mean we the audience know 100%) but how is HE sure?? yuki going this big stage so soon felt a bit un-yuki. but then agin, perhaps that’s part of the new changed confident yuki? I duno, I mean Machi was never given a proper time to prosper, but yuki was always given all the time there is to explore his feelings & even other ppl’s feelings! He’s there in kyo/tohru ‘s story to tells the audience they’re in love, he’s there in Isuzu/ haru to mend their gap. I mean yeah there gotta be more scenes abt them for sure, we’re in ep 5, but I never expected a the intruppted confession now & this soon!

perhaps it’s just me, again?! Maye I’m so invested in yuki & accustomed to him always taking time that I kinda expected more before he’s thinking of confessing. I really thought that confessing his curse/love is yuki/machi’s own story climax compared to kyo/tohru’s story climax with kyoko & Isuzu/Haru story climax after breakup, oh well. I’m positive we’ll see more of yuki’s journey with machi as yuki is rarely absent in any eps. More scenes to come!

That’s the end of my headache! XD. I apologize for giving you headache if you were kind enough to read all this. kindly, don’t spoil future scenes or sub-plots to me. I’m just expressing my shock at how fast the plot moved! just few eps ago, I was watching motoko love journey that survived 3 seasons! Hands down Motoko wins in furuba! XD. Jokes aside, Can I say we’re officially where “the plot thickens?” Is it going down? This ep felt like a bullet train!

Side Notes:

I never liked the “children in deep love theme” that hiro has as children shouldn’t suffer the romantic pining & suffering as teenagers & adult ppl,  so, I really appreciated that Momimi altho was 15 when we 1st saw him, lived his childhood without the “oh my! I’m so in love~ pining~ suffer”.

The story introduced ( momoiji in romantic love) the same ep Momiji got tall, so making it as sth he expressed once he hit puberty like most boys his age. He even said it “ I’m a man now”, which is again sth boys feel once they get taller & experience other feelings.

Momiji never catches a break! T_T. My son is denied the types of love he wants (parental love, sibling love & now romantic love! ).

I don’t picture momiji/tohru together as a couple cuz it wasn’t built that way in the story & most of their moments weren’t romantic/sexual tension. to me it was the ultimate friendship!

I wish my son finds love on-screen! If Moyoko/Nao gets on-screen love, give my boy on-screen love, too!

Nah~ forget that~ I’m just sad for my son, I don’t want to see him paired with any character quickly to compensate him not having tohru. This is not doing momiji justice. So, I get the ED art of him with Momo.

If kyo has someone who loves him one-sidedly (Kagura), tohru now has someone who love her one-sidedly (momiji).

The kagura/kyo confrontation was heart breaking, but it had to happen cuz kyo knew she loved him & had to stop her. I hope Momiji never confesses to tohru, I wouldn’t be able to survive seeing tohru turn him down.Tohru & momiji are just too kind for such sad situation.

So, does this mean that the two characters with unrequited love are Kagura & momiji? they’re the only characters with no romantic partner in the ED.

Hana is without a lover in the ED, too! XD. Thank God! I love her crush on kazuma, cuz hello~ who won’t crush on this hunk! & teenage girls can crush on grown up men rather than boys (I know I did, but it was just my girlish crush). I’m thankful it is just a crush & teasing kyo tactics & not true romance! don’t give me another Arisa/Kureno, plz. lol.

[savagematchmaker]

violet poppies (deaf!Shintaro AU)

@rxxshintaro i wrote you a lil something! (lil meaning like 4k hahah.) hope you’ll like it! this is the first chapter:

also found at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25107196

Kano was having a bad day.

     Really, it was that simple. It had started with him waking up because of a damned mosquito, which had managed to get itself into his room at some point during the night before proceeding to incessantly buzz at his ear only when his palms were too far away from the fiend for him to utterly destroy that fucker. And, of course, when he went downstairs there were no mosquito repellers left. And, of course, that when he went to the coffee shop at six A.M. they were out of cocoa, therefore unable to satisfy his hot chocolate cravings. And, of course, that on his way back home, a random dude wearing noise-cancelling headphones would block his way. Of course.

     So yeah. Kano was having a bad day.

     “Excuse me?” he tried for the third time, still keeping his polite smile on. He was way too tired for conflict.

     The teen before him remained silent, staring at his phone’s screen as he took multiple pictures of some poppies on the side of the road- he was probably even unaware of Kano’s presence.

     Sighing, Kano contemplated inching past the boy. But no, if he tried passing through he’d most likely end up in the other’s personal bubble, squeezed against the other- which he definitely did not want to accomplish. Which meant there were only two options left for him:

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

     While option one was very tempting and probably the more advantageous option of the two, it also meant admitting defeat. Although Kano didn’t know the boy before him, a part of him bristled in indignation at the thought of giving in to the other’s despotism. No. Kano would not give in— he would bypass his usual mentality regarding his aversion to human contact and he’d (shudder) pat the other’s shoulder to get his attention.

     A sigh.

     “Excuse me?” he asked once more, this time lightly tapping the teen’s shoulder while ensuring that the rest of his body was a healthy distance from him— wary of giving the other the wrong impression, whatever that would be.

    It was just a light tap, even by Kano’s standards, yet the boy violently flinched away. Confused, Kano took a careful step back, his hands lifted in a nonthreatening manner; the other took a deep breath, his frame relaxing when the distance between them lengthened. Kano waited for him to take off his headphones, yet they remained on. Instead, the stranger just pocketed his phone, then, with his fist, made a circular motion on his chest.

    Once, then twice.

    It was during the third circle that Kano realized what was happening. His bad mood suddenly disappeared, replaced by burning regret, and he agitatedly shook his head.

     ‘No, I’m sorry,’ he signed to the other.

     The black-haired teen lightly smiled and stepped aside, clearing the way for Kano. Signing a small ‘Thank you,’ the blonde passed him and continued his walk back home, shoulders slightly hunched as he attempted to fight off the lingering embarrassment.

Shintaro regretted many things, starting with him getting in the accident that led to his deafness and ending with him letting Ayano convince him to come visit her home.

     A terrible decision, really. He came off as dark and brooding at best and misanthropic at worst; there were few exceptions to this general rule, like Momo or Ayano.

     Ayano, who was currently grinning at him as if he’d just told her he was getting married. Not a very good comparison, but still. Weren’t her siblings sixteen? Didn’t teens that age hate absolutely everybody and everything? Or was that thirteen? Shintaro could no longer remember, but his belief did not waver. Ayano’s siblings would for sure hate him; that meant that Ayano would soon hate him too.

     Taking a calming breath, Shintaro hit the breaks in his spiraling. Everything would be fine. He’d live for a couple of months in his room until people forgot his face— he could ‘borrow’ from Momo’s dried squid reserves.

     At his side, Ayano was still smiling, slightly facing him at all times to make sure that he could read her lips. They’d abandoned ASL after some disastrous accidents rooted in Ayano’s attempts to learn it, and although lip-reading wasn’t that accurate, there were very few people who knew sign language well enough to communicate with him. Stifling his swelling apprehension in face of the imminent awkwardness, Shintaro fidgeted on the spot.

     “I’m home!” called Ayano as she toed off her shoes. A couple moments later, her siblings showed up, all of them hosting wary expressions bar one. The familiar blond’s eyes were wide in recognition.

     ‘Hey,’ signed the blond. Beyond his cheerfulness there was defensiveness Shintaro was pretty familiar with, piled upon what was probably fierce protectiveness of his sister.

     Shintaro decided not to get into either of them. ‘How come you know ASL?’ he asked instead.

     ‘Was bored,’ replied the other, grinning dismissively. Then, his eyes suddenly flicked away from him and towards a green-haired girl; someone had asked something and Shintaro had missed it, <strike>as always. Torn between reading the girl’s lips and the blond’s, Shintaro hesitated for a moment before settling for the boy. “...met him yesterday, on my way home. Want me to introduce you guys?” the blond said.

     Shintaro felt Ayano tense up at his side. He knew her well enough to know that she was feeling jealous for not being the one to introduce Shintaro and hating herself for it. Probably a lot too. 

     Pulling in his usual reservation, Shintaro comfortingly took her hand in his. She tensed up, then relaxed and smiled at him. Reassured, he turned back to her brother. 

     He was staring at them strangely, but went on and signed anyway. ‘I’m K-A-N-O.’ He pointed to the green-haired girl. ‘K-I-D-O.’ Then to the tall boy. ‘S-E-T-O.’ And the small, white-haired girl hiding behind Seto. ‘M-A-R-Y.’

     ‘Nice to meet you,’ replied Shintaro, trying his best to smile politely. Damn his awkwardness and social conventions. The latter most of all.

     Why was he here again? How should he handle this? Did normal people even ask themselves these things? What was ‘normal’ though—

     Ayano elbowed him and his spiral screeched to a stop.

     “Anyone want to play Mario Kart?” she asked, her eyes sparkling in fierce competitiveness. “I’m really good at it now.” As a rare show of caring, his competitiveness reared its head at the statement.

     ‘I want to be Princess Peach,’ he declared, slightly smiling. Really, he’d smiled a lot today. Weird.

Competitiveness brings out the worst in people. This is known well enough by countless people everywhere: professional or amateur, young or old. Kano supposed that their game of Mario Kart was proof of that fact. Kido, as Luigi, had been kicked off-route so many times that she’d finally huffed in exasperation and blamed her lack of proficiency on her remote. She dumped it in Seto’s lap, then got up to make lunch. Seto was relaxed, Ayano was fierce yet three laps behind. And Kano and Shintaro… Kano and Shintaro were the living proof of the aforementioned universal truth.

     Once more, a shell knocked into Kano. Once more, the air around Shintaro started stinking with smugness.

      Kano was gonna destroy this bastard.

      Easier said than done. For the third time in a row, Shintaro won first place, Kano second, Ayano third, and Seto a very much left behind fourth. He didn’t seem bothered by it. Only smiled at Mary and handed her the remote, asking her if she wanted to try playing.

     Just as Kano opened his mouth to demand a rematch, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed Shintaro turning to Ayano and signing ‘Should we help your sister?’. 

     Ayano seemed surprised by his offer. “No, she usually does it herself— she really likes it. Once, she kicked me out of the kitchen, saying that I was too clumsy to help her cook,” she replied, laughing at the last part. Shintaro’s shoulders slumped in relief.

     So Kano’s initial opinion of Shintaro had been true. The guy really was a selfish bastard most of the time. 

     He’d have to keep a close eye on him.

To protect his sister, of course.

[eternal-love-song]

Our Home Is A Safe House

Bakugo blew in and out of their lives like the wind. Eventually, Jirou and Shinso decide they want to keep him there.

[Shinso/Jirou/Bakugo]

[Aged Up Characters, Pro Heroes, Established Shinso/Jirou, Living Together, Getting Together, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Polyamory, OT3]

They moved in together after high school.

Shinso became an underground hero, often doing undercover missions and staying away for weeks at a time. Jirou decided that the danger in trying to balance a music career with her hero career was worth the inherent effort it would require if it would earn her the money and popularity she would no doubt need to support herself and Shinso, especially when she was on a hero team with half of her band mates. Momo had told her, based on her own internships, how much popularity and reputation fed into each other, and how much those fed into monetary gain. Shinso would never have much of either, if he was working as well as he was supposed to, and while she wasn't sure how that would translate to his paycheck, she thought it was better to plan ahead.

They traveled a lot. Small tours at first, promotions and live concerts, picking up whatever hero work they could in the area, then larger and larger things as they got more and more popular.

Bakugo dove head first into his hero career. No one expected differently from him, so it was a pleasant surprise when he made time once a month to meet up and practice with them.

Their home was more like a safe house. People would crash there; Shinso when he was home from missions, she and her band mates when they were home from tour. Sometimes they would be home at the same time and they would be unnaturally clingy due to how rarely they saw each other. They would be together, regardless of where they were or what they doing. Sometimes Jirou would be at her desk working on music or lyrics and Shinso would sit beside her to fall asleep. Shinso might be eating at the table and she would place herself in his lap and doze off until he had to move.

They had more couches than actual furniture. They weren't broke, but they also weren't home often enough that either of them had made the house into a home. There were enough couches for her and her band mates, two tables, one for eating and one for working, and then everything else was bare necessities. Kaminari found time to comment on it every time he was over and Momo would secretly leave behind little things she made with her quirk; pillows and blankets and fancy looking dishes. Jirou told her that she didn't have to do that, but still thanked her every time it happened.

On one notable visit from Bakugo, they were all there, Jirou and Shinso sitting practically in each other lap on one couch, Kaminari and Momo relaxing on the other, enjoying the first day they'd all had off together in months. Bakugo had arrived for his monthly practice with them, took one look at them all and proclaimed, "You all look like shit."

"Thanks, Blasty, you always know just what to say," Shinso told him. The bags under his eyes seemed worse than usual, but she couldn't say whether that was because he was working too much or sleeping too little. One of the downsides of their conflicting schedules was that she couldn't keep an eye on him like she wanted to.

"Stuff it, Brain dead," Bakugo snapped as he strode toward the kitchen. He opened their fridge and stared into it for a full minute before growling, "The fuck? Why the hell is this so empty?"

"Probably because we're hardly ever here," Jirou answered in a bored voiced.

Bakugo stomped back into the room, glaring at Kaminari. "Get up, Sparks, you're coming with me."

"What?" Kaminari jumped at Bakugo's voice, blinking around as he wondered what he'd done wrong. He'd been half asleep beside Momo and his abrupt movement seemed to wake her, as well.

Bakugo's impatience boiled over as he made small explosions in his palms. "Just get the hell over here!"

Kaminari scrambled off the couch and to Bakugo's side. Bakugo pushed him toward the door, snatching up their keys from the table.

"Hey!" Jirou objected.

"You idiots get some fucking sleep, I'll let myself in," Bakugo commanded.

"What are you even--"

"Shut up and go to sleep!" Bakugo interrupted her, then he pushed Kaminari out the door and slammed it behind them.

Shinso huffed. "Good to know he's exactly as he pushy as always."

"Whatever. Let's just ignore him," Jirou said. Despite saying so, all three of them were asleep again in under ten minutes.

Jirou woke to the smell of food. Her eyes landed on the opposite couch first, where Kaminari and Momo were snuggling together underneath a blanket that Jirou was sure hadn't existed when she went to sleep. She had fallen asleep in Shinso's lap, but now her boyfriend was on top of her and she had to wiggle herself out from under him in order to stand. Shinso could be a heavy sleeper when he was exhausted and he barely moved when she got up except to turn over in his sleep, luckily not falling off of the couch. They really needed to buy a bed. They kept swearing to do it, but neither of them had.

She wandered into the kitchen, only somewhat surprise to see Bakugo standing at the stove and stirring a pot. "What's that?" she asked.

"You idiots were going to starve yourself, so I cooked," he answered without turning to look at her.

"What's that? Did I hear concern?" she asked with a smirk.

He didn't turn to see it. "Fuck off, Earlobes. I already know you can't cook worth shit and that bag eyed boyfriend of yours probably isn't far behind. This is charity work."

"Yaomomo could have cooked," Shinso said around a yawn as he walked into the kitchen, leaning against the wall. "So try again."

"This is her day off, asshole!"

"Aww, you care," Shinso told him.

"Say that again!" Bakugo yelled, setting off explosions threateningly. "I'll fucking--" Bakugo stopped abruptly, a blank look coming over his face as Shinso's quirk took effect. Shinso had come a long way in being able to comfortably use his quirk and some part of her smiled whenever he used it playfully.

Shinso grinned, strolling forward and looping an arm around Bakugo's shoulders. "Thanks, Blasty. We appreciate it. Really."

Jirou moved to his other side, taking the opportunity to give Bakugo a hug, in part because she was actually grateful and partly because she knew it would annoy him. "Who knew you were so sweet?" she asked mockingly.

They both pulled back.

"Why don't you go wake up the others," Shinso ordered. Bakugo marched out of the room and Jirou found herself laughing as she watched him go.

"He's gonna kill you," she told him.

"Yeah, guess I better eat fast," he replied. They grinned at each other before she went to grab bowls and he went to get glasses, and they went about serving the food.

They were both surprised when the day ended without Bakugo threatening to kill them again. He tossed their keys back on their table before he left, looking them in the eye and telling them, "Buy a fucking bed already." He slammed the door behind himself, leaving them both smiling more than they had in a long while.

They bought a bed. Momo made them a bed frame and Kaminari gifted them with a new set of sheets. They didn't get a chance to sleep in it before they were off again.

Jirou rarely got even a hint of her boyfriend in the news. It was his job to be discreet, that was true, but she sometimes combed through article after article just hoping for a hint of him or a signature that suggested his involvement. She often came up empty. Midoriya had more luck, having the experience of an obsessive fanboy and she had reluctantly asked him early on if he could send things her way when they were about Shinso. He didn't seem to mind. She secretly suspected that he kept a scrapbook or something on everyone in class and avidly watched their hero careers, though she wasn't sure how he had time, since she was always seeing him in the news doing... something.

Jirou sent him tickets to her upcoming concerts as a thank you, and that was how her band and hero team, Royal Flush, ending touring with Deku and Explosion King.

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting you to bring Bakugo," Jirou commented when the two joined them backstage.

"I figured he would want to see you guys, but he was too embarrassed to say so," Midoriya said brightly.

"Who the fuck asked you?" Bakugo asked loudly. "I'm only here because Round Face was busy."

Midoriya smiled at them. "Do we have time to catch up before you guys go on stage?"

"Hmm, maybe not, but we can catch up afterwards!" Kaminari answered excitedly.

"Oh, one more thing," Midoriya said. He blushed as he held out a notebook. "Can I please have your autographs?"

"You fucking nerd," Bakugo grumbled.

The five of them spent five weeks traveling, doing hero work together and making a name for themselves in new parts of Japan. The headlines were impossible to avoid.

Have Explosion King and Deku Joined Hero Team Royal Flush?

Explosion King and Creation Queen On A Date? Could This Be The Start Of A New Romance?

Chemistry Between Sound Jack and Electric Ace? The Secret Lives of Royal Flush.

"Ugh, this is trash," Jirou groaned as she tossed the newest buzz article onto the table. They were all sitting around the table in Momo's hotel room, since it was the largest of all of them.

"I'm surprised they'd write this when Kacchan already has a girlfriend," Midoriya said, only sparing the article a glance.

Kaminari nearly fell out of his chair in his haste to sit up. "What? Really? Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?"

"Because it's none of your damn business," Bakugo snapped.

"What? Come on!" Kaminari whined. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Says who?"

"Ack! That hurts!"

"That aside," Momo said, looking at Midoriya and Bakugo both. "We worked together really well. I wouldn't be opposed to having either of you join us. If you wanted to, of course."

Midoriya looked at Bakugo before quickly shaking his head. "Kacchan doesn't want to be on a team with me."

Bakugo's eye twitched, but he stayed silent, crossing his arms and looking away from them.

"You don't have to make your decision based on him," Kaminari said.

Midoriya smiled softly, looking down. "I know, but I don't want to get in the way."

"In the way of what?" Momo questioned.

"Shut up, already!" Bakugo yelled, not looking at any of them. "If you want me on your shitty team so badly, I'll join your shitty team."

"Gee, thanks. Don't go out of your way or anything," Jirou told him.

Bakugo ignored them all after that.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn't get Midoriya to give away what he had meant or what Bakugo might be thinking.

It was nearly midnight when Jirou got a call from Shinso. She had just gotten back to her hotel after a villain unexpectedly crashed their concert and had only moments before allowed herself to fall onto the bed. Without bothering to move, she had her earjacks move to the bedside table where she'd placed her phone, pressing the speaker button.

"Hey, Shin," she breathed, hoping that her voice would carry so that she didn't have to move.

"Hey, Kyo. You sound like that beast hit you harder than it looked."

Jirou turned her head toward her phone. "You saw?" she asked him.

Shinso hummed in ascent. She could hear moving in the background, but she didn't bother trying to decipher it. She wondered if he was at home or not. "Some kid caught most of the battle on his phone and put it on the net."

"Great, just what I needed," she groaned.

"Hey, you looked great out there. One fall isn't going to wreck your reputation," he assured her. "You're killing it in the charts right now. Better than some of our classmates."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll send you the video of Todoroki's last interview. I swear he tanks every time there's a mic in his face."

They shared laughter and Jirou felt herself relaxing a bit more. She didn't always notice how much she missed him, but it was moments like this that she really realized how often they were apart. It sucked, but they were both doing what they loved. It was enough. For now, anyway. Maybe one day it wouldn't be. Maybe one day they would be popular and productive enough to take more time off.

"Tell me what else is going on with you," she said softly. She didn't say, I miss you, but she was pretty sure that he heard it anyway.

"Sure, I'll tell you how Hagakure wiped out and helped me save the day."

Shinso wasn't usually very talkative. Neither was she, really, but for her, he usually found a way to spin story upon story. She listened until she was on the verge of falling asleep and he paused.

"Hey, Kyoka?" he called softly. He probably didn't want to wake her if she'd fallen asleep.

"Hmm?" she hummed, hanging on to consciousness by a thread.

"I love you."

She was pretty sure that was the first time she'd ever heard him say that, but she was too tired to think on it much or even respond, she just let the warmth spread through her as she fell asleep.

"I'm so glad to be back!" Kaminari yelled as he fell face first onto the couch.

"I'm surprised you decided to come back with me," Jirou told him as she sat on the opposite couch. "Even Momo decided to go home after being away so long."

"Kiri asked me to wait before coming back. I'm pretty sure he and Mina are trying to throw a surprise party for me or something," Kaminari answered.

She looked around slowly, happy to be back, but it felt so... empty. It really hit home how bare bones her place was and how much more empty it seemed when Shinso wasn't there with her.

Kaminari turned to face her on the couch to give her a concerned look. "Hey, you okay over there?"

"Yeah, just..." she shook her head at herself. It was silly to feel so lonely when she wasn't alone and had spoken to Shinso not two days ago. "It's stupid."

Kaminari pushed himself up, watching her more closely. "You can talk about it anyway, you know. We're friends. Let me help."

"You can't really help," she told him. Jirou let her head fall back onto the couch and closed her eyes. "I just... miss him a little."

"I get that," he said. "You guys are gone a lot. It makes sense."

"It's stupid," she argued. "It's stupid and clingy and... frustrating," she admitted.

"Clingy like how you guys are all over each other every time you're in the same room?" he asked. "Or like moving in together immediately after high school, no hesitation?"

jIrou felt her face heat up and she grabbed a pillow to toss at him to hide her embarrassment. "Sh-shut up!"

He laughed loudly, even after getting hit in the face with the pillow. "It's okay to be clingy sometimes, Jirou. You don't have to try so hard to hide it."

"When did you start making sense?" Jirou asked indignantly.

"I had to wise up at least a little eventually," he answered. "Between Yaomomo and Bakugo always being on me, you know."

She smiled at him. "I guess you're right."

He pushed himself up off the couch. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you later." She watched as Kaminari saw himself out. A minute later she got up and went to the fridge, but she wasn't surprised when she found it empty.

She was asleep on the couch when Shinso came back. She heard the door creak and slowly opened one eye to watch him as he came to her side. Shinso pressed a kiss to her forehead and spoke softly into her skin. "Hey."

"Hey," she answered sleepily.

"How about we actually use that bed for once?"

She smiled, rolling over to wrap her arms around him and he dutifully lifted her up and carried her to be the bed. She tried to keep herself awake long enough to revel in the feeling and found herself lulled to sleep anyway.

It was a nice feeling, waking up in a bed beside her boyfriend. She watched him as he slept, combing her fingers through his hair and holding him close. "Hey, Shin," she whispered. "I think I love you, too."

She'd thought he was asleep, but he proved her wrong when he squeezed his arms around her tighter and mumbled a sleepy, "I know."

She felt her face heat up and she buried it in his hair. "D-dummy, you were supposed to be asleep."

He chuckled, the sound causing warmth to pool in her stomach. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss that for anything."

She curled around him more, glad that he couldn't see her face. "Don't say things like that..."

He laughed again. "You're lucky I can't see your face, because I would remember how you looked saying you love me forever."

She made a surprised noise in the back of her throat. He squeezed her again.

"You're so cute, Kyo."

"Sh-shut up, Shin..."

Shinso made coffee when he dragged himself out of bed. It was a nice morning, one of the few that they'd been able to spend together since moving in. Jirou made herself comfortable in his lap, clinging to her coffee even though she'd been up longer than he had. It was nice, having her close, holding her, feeling her warmth. He pressed his face into her neck, taking in her scent and leaving a lazy trail of kisses.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked. He could hear the embarrassment in her voice, and he smiled against her skin.

"Waking up," he told her.

"If this is how you wake up, what do you do when I'm not here?"

"Sleepwalk."

She huffed, holding in her laughter. That wouldn't do. He liked the way her laugh sounded. He wanted to hear it. He didn't get the chance to make her laugh as much as he wanted to nowadays and he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by.

"Hey, Kyo?"

"What?" She became still as his power took hold of her.

He pressed a kiss to her neck as he said softly, "Laugh for me."

He smiled as she immediately burst into raucous laughter. He pulled back to see the unrestrained joy on her face, feeling warm and soft and wanting her to feel the same. He took the mug of coffee from her hands and placed it on the table, then her cupped her cheeks in his hands. "You can stop."

It wasn't an immediate stop, the laughter taking a moment to die down. "Really, Shin?"

He leaned forward and kissed her. She made a noise of surprise, but melted into him almost immediately. Her earjacks wrapped gently around his wrist and her arms went around his neck. He hummed in contentment, holding her close to him. They were reluctant to part and did so slowly. Shinso pressed his forehead to hers, smiling softly.

"You're surprising romantic sometimes," she told him.

He chucked. "And you're surprisingly easy to embarrass."

Jirou playfully slapped his arm. "Shut up."

"You're right, you're right," Shinso said. "It wasn't all that surprising."

Their fridge was as empty as it always was. They couldn't really keep much when they were rarely ever home, so after finishing their coffee they got dressed and headed out for lunch, since it was well past noon.

"We should go shopping," he said once they were done with lunch. "Our place looks like villain hideout."

"It could do with some sprucing," she agreed. "Wanna go now?"

By the end of the day they'd gotten a desk, a bookshelf, another set of dishes, and a host of useless decorative items that made their place look actually lived in. They spent most of the day decorating, moving things around, arguing about placement, and goofing around in a way they'd sorely missed.

"Blasty just texted me," Shinso said. "You feel like dealing with him?"

"Tell him he has to cook if he wants to come over. Saves us from having to get take out."

"And buy groceries," he added. "You're a genius."

"True."

He responded to Bakugo's text quickly before pouncing on her and tickling her for her arrogance.

Bakugo showed up half an hour later with a suitcase and a bag of groceries. He dropped both on the ground immediately. "Round Face broke up with me. I'm going to take a shower. Don't talk to me." Then he stomped off to the bathroom.

They both looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Did you know he was dating Ochako?" Shinso questioned once he heard the shower running in the other room.

Jirou shook her head. "I had no idea. Midoriya mentioned that he was dating someone, but they didn't say who."

"Well, fuck," Shinso said, looking down at the suitcase Bakugo had dropped at the door. "What do we do?"

Jirou's eyes also dropped to the suitcase. "Wait a minute, he went to take a shower, but he left his stuff here."

"Do we own extra towels?" Shinso questioned.

"I think. We're they in the bathroom?" Jirou asked. Her face was turning red and her eyes widening with incoming panic. Shinso couldn't say that he didn't feel the same at the thought of an angry, naked Bakugo possibly storming around their house.

"You fuckers are pathetic," Bakugo said as he stormed back into the room. Jirou squeaked and hide her face in Shinso's chest before she even had the chance to look at him. "You still haven't gotten this shit hole together yet?"

Shinso's arms went around her immediately, but his eyes were drawn to Bakugo. There had, apparently, been a towel in the bathroom, but Sinso wasn't sure if that made things better or worse. The towel was wrapped around his waist, but there were still drops of water on his chest, glistening in the light. His hair was still wet, making it look the softest that Shinso had ever seen it. Shit. Bakugo was hot. He could feel his eyes widen at the sight, was far too aware of his own staring, in fact,  and completely unable to make himself stop. "Fuck," he swore softly.

Bakugo swept past them to pick up the bag of groceries. His eyes landed on Shinso's and he glared. "What?"

"Nothing!" Shinso replied quickly. Too quickly. He was still staring. Fuck.

Bakugo held his gaze for a moment longer, but when he didn't say anything, Bakugo just snorted and walked away.

Shinso shook her as soon as Bakugo turned around. "Kyo. Kyo, I need you to see this."

"What? Why?" she questioned, pulling back enough to look at him.

"I can't unsee it and I need you to suffer with me," he told her sincerely.

"What?"

"Please."

"No wa..." she trailed off as he took control of her.

"Look, this is important, I need you to go in there, look at Bakugo for a full minute, and then come back here and tell me what you honestly think."

He watched her as she walked off, waited for her to return, and then let out a deep breath when she said, "He's hot."

"Thank god it's not just me."

"Oh god, he's hot," she repeated as she came out of quirk, covering her quickly reddening face with her hands. "Why did you make me realize that?"

"I refuse to be alone in this."

"He's an asshole!" she argued.

"We're assholes," he replied.

"Fuck me," she groaned. She sounded nearly as pained as he felt.

Shinso opened his mouth to reply, then he thought about it. Then he remembered the thread of conversation and thought about a few more things. Then his face was becoming as red as hers and he was hiding in his hands, too. "Don't say that, Kyo."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Shin!"

"You're the one that brought it up!"

"What are you idiots whispering about?" Bakugo asked as he leaned in the doorway.

They both jumped. Jirou let her embarrassment turn to anger as she demanded,  "Why are you walking around in a towel?" She was hot when she was angry and embarrassed. She stomped toward him, jabbing him with her finger as she demanded, "Put some clothes on."

"Fuck off," Bakugo replied easily. He knocked her hand away, rolling his eyes.

"This is my house!"

"Could have fooled me. This place looks basically abandoned."

Shinso really needed not to be thinking what he was thinking right now. Why was he attracted to hot, angry assholes? Granted, Jirou wasn't angry as often as Bakugo, but...

"Why did you bring a suitcase with you?" he asked. Anything to get his mind off it's current thoughts.

Bakugo looked away. It was a rare show of vulnerability that struck even Jirou, making her pull back on her embarrassment. "I was staying with her and Deku. I didn't think it was a good idea to stick around under the circumstances."

"Wait, her and Deku?" Jirou questioned. "Does that mean..."

Bakugo glared at her. "What of it?" he asked harshly.

She took a step back, putting her hands up. "Nothing! I just didn't know you guys... any of you, were a... thing..."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "That's because I don't like people in my business."

"So why us?" Shinso questioned. "Why'd you chose to come to us?"

Bakugo hesitated. It wasn't something that he was used to seeing and Shinso found himself watching Bakugo with more interest.

"You two are less nosy than the other idiots," he eventually answered. "Even Ponytail would ask a million questions and you two actually know how to mind your own shit." He lifted his eyes to meet theirs. "Also, you guys could probably use the help. This place is an abandoned building half the time. I figured I wouldn't be in the way if I had to crash here."

There was a question in there if one could speak Bakugo. Shinso glanced at Jirou, but they already knew what answer they'd give. He was right, after all. This place was empty most of the time and he wouldn't be in the way. "Sure. You can stay," Shinso said. "As long as you cook."

Bakugo rolled his eyes as he headed back into the kitchen. "As if I'd think either of you could."

Bakugo crashing with them was pretty unobtrusive. He always found a reason to be elsewhere whenever they both had a day off, the fridge was suddenly never empty and they found cooked meals and leftovers fairly regularly. It was surprisingly nice.

Bakugo's presence in their life was louder in other ways. Royal Flush skyrocketed in popularity once people realized that Explosion King had actually had joined the team, which lead to benefits all round. They got better, more lucrative work, which meant Jirou could have more days off and thus had more time to see Shinso.

A week after Bakugo had been staying with them, Shinso came home to find him drinking at the kitchen table. Shinso pulled up a chair, poured himself a shot, and gave Bakugo a questioning look. "Rough night?"

"You're the one that looks like a rough night," Bakugo replied. "Do you ever not have bags under your eyes?"

"Are you ever not an asshole?" Shinso shot back.

Bakugo chuckled, taking a long sip from his drink. "Don't get the wrong idea," he said. "I'm not upset."

"Oh yeah, of course. I sit in the dark and drink heavily when I'm not upset, too."

Bakugo frowned. "I'm not upset because of her," he corrected. "I knew we were heading this way. Stupid Deku knew we were heading this way. He told me he wouldn't stand in the way of whatever I wanted and she was tired of watching me not decide. Like it was even any of her business."

"And what were you supposed to be deciding?" Shinso asked.

"Like it's any of your business," Bakugo replied.

Shinso shrugged. "I could argue that this is my house and that makes it my business. I could also use my quirk and just make you tell me." He watched Bakugo closely as his hand tightened around his glass before chugging what was left of it. "I won't, if you were worried about that," Shinso said. "That would be kind of a dick move."

"Isn't that your whole thing, as a hero?" Bakugo questioned.

Shinso laughed. "You could say that, yeah. Doesn't mean I have to be an ass all the time. You could take note of that, by the way."

"The idiots would have a heart attack if I ever started being nice."

"Hmm, maybe," Shinso agreed. His grin widened as he looked at Bakugo. "But maybe that's a perk, not a flaw." He pushed himself away from the table, stretching briefly. "You can bring your stuff here, by the way. Kyoka and I already talked about it. We've got an extra room, you won't be in the way if you move in."

"You two don't want your privacy?" he questioned.

"This place is already a safe house. The team crashes here most of the time anyway, it won't make that much of a difference."

There was silence between them and Shinso was almost out of the room before he heard a quiet, "Thanks."

"You're going on tour again?" Shinso questioned, looking up from his phone at this announcement. Jirou was sitting at the table with a cup of noodles, Momo was in the kitchen helping Bakugo, and Kaminari was lazing about on the other couch.

"Yeah, sorry this is kind of last minute," she told him. "They called us out for a mission, but our producer jumped on the chance to have us play again when she found out where we were going."

"You should play with us Bakugo," Kaminari spoke up. "You're already on the team, you'll be coming with us anyway, and it's not like you're out of practice."

"No one asked you, Blondie!" Bakugo replied immediately, but there wasn't any heat to it.

"It could be fun," Jirou said. "And you don't have to join the band again if you don't want to."

"Idiot," he said. "Who's going to keep an eye on the crowd if we're all on stage? What if some moron crashes like last time?"

"We'll have a better view of the crowd from the stage, genius," Jirou replied sarcastically.

"Not if we're too busy playing, Earlobes."

"Only if you don't think you can multitask, Dummy."

Their back and forth went on for a while, as it usually did. It was amusing to watch. Perhaps it was as as amusing to watch him and Bakugo, or him and Jirou when they traded their own barbs. He couldn't help but look at them and notice the chemistry between them. The way Kyoka's grin lit up her face and she leaned toward him, the way Bakugo kept his full attention on her whenever he looked he way. He wondered if it was the same when he and Bakugo were bickering, wondered if he wanted it to be.

"How long do you think you'll be on tour?" he asked.

"Shouldn't be longer than a month," she answered. There was a small curl of satisfaction in him at how easily she dropped her conversation with Bakugo to answer him. There was something less warm at the way Bakugo curled in on himself when he turned away from them.

"I'll take some time off when you get back," he told her. "I think I'm finally at the point where I can plan this sort of thing ahead of time and not worry about someone taking my spot."

"Yeah?"

"It helps that Hagakure and I work so well together. Once you learn to tune her out a little, it's way easier."

"You mean once you've used your quirk on her to shut her up," Bakugo mumbled.

"I never said how I had to tune her out," Shinso replied with a smirk.

"I'm glad that things are going so well for you," Yaoyorozu said, smiling as she began to set the table. He had a suspicious those were new dishes that she was putting on the table, but he wasn't about to complain. Half of the reason their house was as lively as it was was due to her.

"Yeah, well, while you guys are going off to live your rock star dreams, I'm going to have t go undercover with Hagakure and Monoma." Shinso sighed heavily. "They get along like spiders and flies, and I'm never sure which is which."

"That sounds pretty rough," Kaminari said with a wince.

"Yeah, and I have to put up with Monoma tapping me every few minutes to take my quirk. I know he's increased his limit, but he refuses to tell us how long and tries to keep up the pretense unless we're actually in the field."

"All this time and he hasn't let go of his stupid rivalry thing yet?" Jirou asked.

"With very few exceptions," he answered, looking at Yaoyorozu.

"Me?" she asked. "Why me?"

Shinso shook his head. "Have you met you? You're pretty much impossible to dislike."

She blushed slightly. "That's sweet of you to say."

"It's true of me to say."

Bakugo walked out of the kitchen and stole the cup of noodles from Kyoka's hand as he walked past. "Hey!"

"Food is ready. Stop eating this garbage," he told her.

"I like that garbage," she protested.

Bakugo looked her dead in the eyes as he used his quirk to blow them up. "Too late now."

"Asshole," she pouted. It was hard for her to stay mad when there was a full meal placed before her, though, and it was only a few minutes before she stopped pouting and started eating.

It was two weeks later on the phone that Shinso brought up the idea that had been lingering on his mind for so long. He was sharing a room with Monoma, but he'd used his quirk to put him to sleep before locking himself in the bathroom. "Hey, Kyo."

"Hey, Shin," Kyoka answered. "What's up? Miss me already?"

"I always miss you," he told her.

She hesitated in her response. He always surprised her when he said things like that and she always hesitated in saying similar things back. Kyoka had an easier time with physical affection; sharing space, sharing touches, that was something she excelled at. Shinso had always been good with words when he wanted to be and putting that to use with Kyoka was always nice.

"I missed you, too," she admitted with a heavy sigh.

They spent a few minutes updating each other on how their days had gone, how their missions were going. It was mostly comforting small talk, a reason to hear the other's voice, and a way for Shinso to procrastinate a little longer. But he didn't want to keep it up forever, so eventually, he asked her, "You're alone, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I... had something I wanted you to think about," he told her. She was quiet, waiting. He tried to imagine what expression she would be wearing, how she would tilt her head in confusion and play with her earjacks nervously if he took too long. "You remember when Bakugo came to us that day?"

He wouldn't need to be more specific than that. He was pretty sure it was burned into both of their brains. "What about it?" she asked quietly.

"Do you still think about it?"

Silence. He wondered what she was thinking about it. What she was thinking about him for asking. He held the phone tighter as he waited.

"Yes... Do you?"

"Yeah," he told her.

So that was out in the open.

She asked the question that he had called to ask in the first place. "What do you want to do about it?"

Jirou spent the last two weeks of her tour contemplating the question. They hadn't really come to a conclusion on the phone, spending more time in silent contemplation than conversation. It hadn't been bad. In fact, it was nice that they could come together on this. That they could talk things out and not feel pressured or the need to pressure the other.

She didn't even think that the problem was what they wanted to do, but what were they willing to do. It was more than obvious that they both found Bakugo attractive and that they got along with him. He was her teammate, her band mate, her housemate... Bakugo had already ended up wound up in their life. He was fun to bicker with, and it had been nice not coming home to an empty house.

Jirou would never say that there was anything mission between her and Shinso, that just wasn't true, but maybe there was still a space that he could fill. Thinking about it, Bakugo was the thing that made their safe house into a home. He was the one that had forced them to buy a bed, he was the one that put food on the table (not that they couldn't, but they never had when left to their own devices). He was a nag, both in battle and at home. Whenever both she and Shin were home he always stole their keys when he went out (until the point when they'd given him his own) and he always respected their time together, but he still... fit. He fit with them. He always had, if she were honest, they'd just never considered what that might mean.

So say they did ask, then what? Did they want him for a night? A weekend? Forever? And what if he said no? How would that make them feel? There were a lot of questions and she felt like she was just spinning her wheels.

Something cold touched her forehead and she jumped, forcefully falling out of her thoughts. "Quit getting lost in your own world," Bakugo scolded her, holding out a bottle of water. "We're supposed to be practicing, not day dreaming."

"Sorry," she answered quietly.

"Something on your mind, Kyoka?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, it's not really important. Don't worry about it."

"Idiot," Bakugo said, lightly rapping her on the top of her head. "If it worries you, it is important."

For a moment she felt surprised, then her expression softened. Bakugo had moments like this sometimes, soft moments that he had displayed more and more since moving in with her and Shin, but it still came as a complete surprise whenever he dropped his guard enough to let her see it. She smiled at him. "You're right. Maybe... I might want to talk about it later?" she didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but she met his gaze anyway. He looked curious, but he didn't say anything, only nodded.

As soon as they were home, Bakugo breezed back out the door to go get groceries. As long as they had been away, it was a guarantee that the fridge would be empty and Bakugo had taken it upon himself to take care of most, if not all, of their grocery shopping. Shinso was home by the time dinner was ready. Momo and Kaminari had fallen asleep on the couch by the time she'd finished her second glass of wine.

It was obvious to her, though she wasn't sure if Shin could tell, that Bakugo was waiting for them to bring up whatever was on their mind. He had shuffled Momo and Kaminari off while he did the dishes and used the wine as an excuse to keep her and Shin in the kitchen. Not to mention the looks he kept shooting them, somewhere between impatient and encouraging.

Finally, Shinso sat back in his chair and I said, "I don't know what to do about this."

It seemed he'd come to the same conclusion that she did. They definitely wanted to do something, if only they could figure out what that something was.

"About what?" Bakugo asked. He leaned against the counter, watching them both with narrowed eyes. His body was tense and she could read the wariness as loudly as he if he had screamed it at them.

"This," Shinso gestured between them all. "Whatever this is. Whatever this could be."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied.

"It isn't like you to play dumb, Bakugo," she scolded.

He glared at her. He didn't deny it. "There's nothing that needs to be done."

"Yeah, that's an option," Shinso said calmly. "Certainly not the most interesting option. And I'm guessing that's not the answer that you want."

"I haven't said shit about wanting something," Bakugo told him.

"You haven't," Shinso agreed. "But I've been thinking about it and it makes sense, doesn't it?" He looked at her. "He came to us. Midoriya didn't want to get in the way and Ochako didn't want to watch him doing nothing. As soon as they cut him loose, he came to us. That seems as close to a declaration as this asshole would get when he was still trying to be unobtrusive."

Jirou sat up straighter. It... did fit. It fit really well. She suddenly remembered how easily he had agreed to joining their team. She looked at him more closely, noting the slight blush on his cheeks. Then another idea hit her. "Is that why you decided to walk around here in a towel that first night?" she asked.

Bakugo shrugged, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on anything but them.

"What? Were you hoping that we'd offer you comfort sex or something?" Shinso asked.

"I didn't say--" Bakugo stopped as his eyes glazed over.

"Come here, Blasty," Shinso ordered, holding out his hand. Bakugo approached them obediently, Shinso taking one hand and Jirou taking the other. "What do you want?"

"I want you two assholes," Bakugo answered.

"In what way," she questioned.

"Answer her," Shinso said softly.

"Anyway. Every way," the answer seemed forced, as if were fighting it.

That was... more than she had been expecting. She looked at Shinso and he was already looking at her. Did they want that? Shinso reached out for her hand. He smiled, shrugged, leaving the decision up to her. She turned the idea over in her head, but as she'd thought earlier, he had already threaded himself through them both. This wasn't much more than that. (It was everything more than that and maybe that was the point.)

"Okay," she answered. "Yes."

Bakugo inhaled a breath, looking at them both with wide eyes as if he thought this would be some kind of trick.

"You already live here," Shinso told him. "It's not that different."

"It is," Bakugo said. He sounded a little choked, as if he had to force the words out. "It's completely different."

"It is, isn't it?" She rubbed a circle on the back of his hand with her thumb. "But it's what you want, right?"

"You two haven't said what you want," he said softly.

"We want this," Shinso told him. "We wouldn't offer it if we didn't."

Bakugo stared at their hands silently for a moment. He gripped them a little more tightly. "Don't think I'm gonna be any nicer to you assholes." He already was, but neither of them were going to call him out on it.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she told him. They didn't want to change him, after all. He was a good fit for him just as he was. Besides, there were better things to dream of. Bickering and banter and this... that she could image instead. She met his gaze and squeezed his hand in return. He seemed to relax a little as he looked at them and he smiled.

[thecaroliner]

That awful CBR Kataang article

I don’t normally do metas but this was so bad I had to respond. I think I actually had a stroke reading it

1. She shouldn’t teach him waterbending

At the beginning of the series, Katara was a waterbending novice, barely capable of maintaining a feeble orb of water in midair. As she traveled with Aang, they grew as waterbenders simultaneously, each growing through their journey to the north pole where they were taught by the same teacher.

After that, Katara assumed the duty of Aang’s waterbending tutor, which doesn’t really make sense considering that they should both be at the same approximate place in their training. In fact, Aang was shown to be more naturally adept at waterbending and capable of picking up the techniques easier.

So, like, did you completely miss the episode where Katara is shown to have advanced more than Pakku’s other students who have been training for months or maybe even years at this point? Yeah it’s a little weird considering that she’s only been there about a month, but Katara is just really, REALLY good at waterbending once she had a proper teacher. And yes Aang did pick it up really quickly but we also see in said episode he was lounging around playing with Momo rather than practicing, unlike Katara who it seemed like practiced hours each day.

2. They did their best work separated

Both Aang and Katara were intensely powerful benders who accomplished many amazing feats through their powers. However, it’s interesting to note that their most formidable feats were accomplished by themselves and separate from one another. Katara learned her most powerful techniques, bloodbending and water healing, completely without Aang’s aide. And the amount of incredible things Aang accomplished without her are immeasurable.

For starters, he was able to embody the spirit of the ocean, beat Fire Lord Ozai, and impressed the last dragons. In fact, he had to intentionally abandon her to attain his highest form and gain control of the Avatar State, pretty much definitively proving that they are more powerful when separated.

....What does this have to do with anything. Like, seriously, anything. Should they not be amazing, powerful benders unless the other is there to help them?? I genuinely don’t understand the point you’re trying to make here. Also do you not know how the Avatar state works? 

3. The Cave of Two Lovers

One of the defining moments in Aang and Katara’s romance was the episode “The Cave of Two Lovers.” In it, Aang and Katara are separated from everyone else in a system of caves on the way to the city of Omashu.

The romantic nature of the story inspires Aang to hint his true feelings to Katara and, after some rom-com levels of shenaniganry, the two almost kiss for the first time as their light goes out. Without the light, however, the pathway of glowing crystals becomes clear and the two are able to escape. The episode is generally never brought up, both in discussion and the show’s lore, because it is, for lack of a better word, cringy.

Great argument, just explain what happened in the episode and then don’t explain why it’s bad or weird

4. Political Disagreements

Their biggest obstacle came in the comics, where they came within moments of splitting up over political disagreements. Specifically, their fight was over the Harmony Restoration Movement, which attempted to remove Fire Nation colonies following the end of the war. After Zuko had a change of heart and wanted to keep the older colonies in place, Katara agreed with him.

Aang was initially of the mind that all Fire Nation presence in the Earth Kingdom needed to be removed to ensure peace. Their conflict came to the point of violence when Katara had to talk Aang down from the Avatar State to prevent him from ending Zuko.

Again you just explained what happened and not why it was bad

5. Aang’s grandkids are better without him

There’s clear evidence that Aang and Katara weren’t the best parents, as evidenced by the emotional and psychological hang-ups of their kids, but the most telling proof that they weren’t fit to raise kids is how their grandkids turned out. Given that Aang never met them, Tenzin’s kids were never directly influenced by their grandfather and they were all nearly ideal children. Sure Ikki and Meelo are hyperactive, but they’re kids and are shown to mature somewhat with age while retaining their energetic personalities.

Free from Aang’s influence, Jinora even becomes a more powerful spiritual advisor than her father, who was so burdened with Aang’s pressure that he was never able to fully embrace his spiritual side.

Um, WHAT? Are you freaking serious right now? Of course we gotta go with the dumb “Aang was a bad dad” argument, AGAIN, which obviously was blown way outta proportion. But I can’t believe you’d actually say that they are better off not knowing him

6. They both have PTSD

While to romance between Aang and Katara is often framed as being between two kindred souls who knew from childhood that they were meant to be together, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even from the first moments they met each other, both exhibited acute symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

Katara’s maternal instincts are likely derived from witnessing her mother’s demise and the prospect of vengeance. Aang had a tendency to misdirect, project, and avoid his issues over abandoning his culture and being lost in time. He also demonstrated a consistent lack in ability to process his anger, often snapping and yelling at his comrades over his perception of their failures.

ONCE AGAIN. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING. Also, are you literally implying that PTSD victims shouldn’t be in a relationship? ok

7. Aang kept her from seeing her dad

In one of the most despised episodes of the entire series, “Bato of the Water Tribe,” also featured a moment that probably should have destroyed Katara and Aang’s relationship. In the episode, Aang intercepts a letter that would provide Katara and her brother information on where their father, who they haven’t seen for three years, might be stationed and give them a chance to see him. Worried that they might abandon him, however, Aang hides the letter from them.

Katara’s father was at war and could have died at any time. If Aang had prevented the water tribe siblings from seeing their father, there’s no guarantee that they would have ever seen him again.

This is as close to a legitimate point as this article gets. But I guess they’re forgetting how Aang felt guilty about it and how neither Katara nor Sokka took it lightly and it took a while for them to forgive him. 

8. They gave their kids inadequacy issues

If there’s one thing that could be gleaned from the Legend of Korra spin-off series, it’s that Aang and Katara weren’t the best parents. The oldest, Bumi, was born a non-bender and even in what appear to be his mid-50s, and after an illustrious military career, was still dealing with the inadequacy issues imparted by his father who always wanted an airbending child.

His sister Kya was so affected by her parents’ pressures that she spent several years traveling the world by herself before being forced to return to the south pole to take care of her co-dependent mother. Tenzin, the only airbending child was denied a childhood by his father hoisting the burden of an entire culture on his young shoulders.

Nothing in the show implies Kya was forced to come back and live with Katara. Katara was an elderly woman, devastated by the loss of her husband of 50+ years. My grandpa died many years ago, and if we hadn’t already lived in the same town as them, my family would’ve definitely moved up there to be with my grandma who was all alone. Taking care of your family is bad, I guess.

9. Their relationship got worse in the comics

The romance between Katara and Aang was a slow build on the show, developing infrequently from beginning to end. After the show ended, the generally laudable comic series took over the narrative and fumbled their relationship worse than a clumsy wide receiver. After affirming their relationship, the series depended entirely on an unfair dynamic between the two.

Katara was jealous of Aang constantly flirting with other girls closer to his own age, Aang bragged about being able to kiss her to everyone who would listen, and neither could think of a better pet name than “sweetie.” Overall, their romance just sort of went on automatic in the comics.

Show me ONE TIME where Aang flirted with other girls. Being friends with other girls is not flirting with them. Aang only mentioned being able to kiss her ONCE, and it wasn’t in front of close friends. He didn’t freaking go out in the middle of a crowd and go “HEY EVERYONE LOOK I CAN KISS KATARA”

10. Their kiss at the end was weird

The only time when Katara and Aang’s romantic relationship really picked up steam was in the final season of the show, culminating in the final scene of the original series where the two finally share a reciprocated kiss. As romantic as the tone was, it was offset somewhat by the atmosphere between the two leading up to that moment.

Mere episodes earlier, with the looming threat of genocide, death, and continued global war hanging ever-present over their heads, Katara was still uncertain and upset over Aang’s advances and made that abundantly clear to him.

Whoa, Katara took time to think about her feelings before jumping into a relationship?? Wow, how stupid of her.

11. They worked better as friends

The Kataang relationship was present throughout much of the series, but was only addressed and developed a few times at sporadic intervals. For the vast majority of the series, their relationship was one of matriarch and dependent. Aang needed Katara to keep him humble and focused while Katara’s motherly nature made her want to keep Aang safe.

Put bluntly, they were friends and their relationship worked well in that regard. But whenever romance was forcibly inserted into the equation, Katara began questioning how she felt about Aang and stated openly that she was uncomfortable with his affections. I.E. red flags that they probably should just stay friends.

Man, how dare Katara and Aang have a solid friendship before being romantically involved!!!!!!! You’re not supposed to be FRIENDS with your significant other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12. The age difference

Though Aang is technically over 100 years old, he’s biologically only 12. And though Katara herself is only 14 at the start of the series, the gulf between a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old is far greater than that between a 30-year-old and 32-year-old.

Despite having moments of genuine sage wisdom, Aang’s everyday behavior is more on par with an 8-year-old than anyone in his actual age bracket. This might not be his fault as his isolated, holistic upbringing instilled in him a strong sense of detachment, which might have prompted some of his more selfish actions, but even the most mature 12-year-old should not be making out with someone two years older.

I am forever baffled by y’all thinking that someone with a fun-loving, carefree personality is childish. When you get to a certain age are you supposed to stop having fun?? Stop telling jokes??? What a miserable life that would be

13. It was a one-sided relationship

When Aang was freed from the iceberg he’d been trapped in for the past hundred years, his first instinct was to fall head over heels in love with Katara. However, she didn’t see things the same way for quite some time. In fact, during the entire series, their romance was viewed through Aang’s lens with little to no input from Katara’s opinions on the matter.

In fact, she made it obliquely clear from the beginning of the series that she saw Aang more as a little brother or pseudo-child rather than a potential love interest, a view that didn’t change until very late. And even then, she was more embarrassed and confused by Aang’s affections than reciprocal.

Yeah, because relationships in real life are always 100% mutual from the beginning, and one person is never interested before the other is. That NEVER happens.

14. Their romance was unnecessary

While they were one of the primary pairs of the show, Katara and Aang’s relationship was only focused on in a handful of episodes in the original show’s three-season run. And those episodes tended to be considered weaker or filler between more significant arcs. Overall, their ship was not integral to the narrative of the show, both figuratively and thematically. You could remove all the Kataang content from the show and it wouldn’t change anything.

It wouldn’t even effect the series’ general quality, only improve it slightly. This might have been an issue in the writing staff as central breeding pairs are a trope in most shows, animated or otherwise. But just because stereotypes exist doesn’t mean they have a purpose or need to be used.

This was a show about magic, martial arts, and war. All the romance on the show was technically unnecessary. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have happened.

15. Zuko would’ve been a better match for her

The main rival of the Kataang ship is the Zutara vessel, the faction of viewers who believed that Katara would be better off with the series anti-hero Zuko. And they’re probably right. Zuko and Katara have expressed an interest in each other before, launching their ship in the first place, but it’s more because Zuko is more mature and, for lack of a better word, attractive than the alternative.

There’s also the pretty significant matter that they both have similar emotional baggage. Katara has issues with her father abandoning her for the war, Zuko has problems with his father being a dictatorial jerk, and they both lost their mothers at a young age due to the intricacies of politics and conflict.

*eye roll* “Zuko and Katara have expressed interest in each other before” Where? Show me where.

Ok so before you said that one of the reasons Kataang doesn’t work is because they both have PTSD. Buuuuut Katara and Zuko having PTSD is a reason..they should’ve been together? And full offense, but Katara having hard feelings towards her dad for a short time in one episode that was resolved quickly is in no way equal to Zuko experiencing lifelong physical and emotional abuse by his father. I’m actually really angry and kind of offended you would even think this was a reasonable comparison.

16. Their personalities never changed

One of the most important aspects of fictional characters is how they change. Round characters are indefinitely more interesting than flat, one-note characters. And while Aang and Katara are in no way flat characters, they didn’t change much within the confines of their relationship. That is to say, while their presence in each other’s lives changed the others’ personalities, they did not change all too much to each other after their childhood.

As seen in Legend of Korra, Katara is just as maternal and wise as she was in her youth. Korra’s brief flashbacks to Aang’s life demonstrated that he grew somewhat more serious as he aged, but was still immature enough to pose for pictures of him doing his marble trick.

fklafj;afjea;fef; if AANG MAKING A FUNNY POSE FOR A PICTURE IS IMMATURE. god i’m just. i am so done with this article.

17. Aang decided how many kids they had

One of the biggest decisions a long-term couple can make together is if they want to have children. It’s a choice that, if made in the affirmative, can never be taken back, and if they do decide to have kids, they both need to determine how many kids they want or can afford to have.

While Katara never said anything on the subject, their kids were more than happy to discuss how Aang was insistent on having children until at least one of them developed airbending so he had a surefire way to pass on his near-extinct culture. Presumably Katara was more than happy to have three kids with Aang, but if Tenzin had turned out to be a water- or non-bender, he would have demanded that she continue.

LITERALLY WHAT SHOW ARE YOU WATCHING HERE, MY DUDE. Where was this EVER said or even implied. Might I point out in Legacy where Aang literally says that he and Katara were open to the idea of having more kids after Tenzin

18. She lived without him for 20 years

t’s stated in Legend of Korra that Aang died when he was 66. Given that Katara is approximately two years older than him, that means she was about 68 when he passed. By the end of the spin-off series, Katara was 89, according to the official wiki.

That means that she had around 20 years to live, grow, and evolve as a person without Aang around. In all likelihood, if Aang had somehow returned to her after all that time, he might not even recognize Katara as the same woman he fell in love with. As far as the series is willing to tell, Katara’s only company after Aang’s death was her daughter, the Order of the White Lotus, Korra, and infrequent visits from her other children.

Wow, how dare Aang DIE and leave Katara all alone. What a jerk!!!!!!!! I guess my grandpa is a jerk for dying and leaving my grandma all alone, too! Men SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19. She had a crush on Jet first

Kataang shippers tend to consider the start of the relationship to be the moment Aang saw Katara. He looked at her through rose colored glasses the moment she broke him out of the iceberg, framing her in light and a romantic breeze. It took Katara a little while to come around to having feelings for him, but she had a few different non-starter relationships along the way.

The first, and by far most impassioned of these, was with the freedom fighter Jet, who she met all the way back in the first season. Her crush was apparent and strong enough that she was disproportionately upset when she saw him several months later. She may have wound up with Aang, but she clearly had stronger initial feelings for Jet.

Wow because nobody in real life ever has multiple relationships throughout their lifetime or crushes on other people before meeting their significant other. And yeah, Katara totally shouldn’t have been upset to see the guy who tried to wipe out an entire innocent village unless she was madly in love with him

20. The (older) age difference

Despite only looking like a pre-teen, Aang is actually over 100 years old. He was born and raised before the start of the 100-year war at the Southern Air Temple. Upon learning he was the reincarnated Avatar, Aang was surprised. He and Appa were caught in a ferocious storm that sent them below the waves.

In a moment of self-preservation, his Avatar state activated for the first time and he bent himself into a frozen iceberg, which preserved him as he waited for a century beneath the seas near the Southern Water Tribe. The series is riddled with Aang’s hang-ups about his long-dead culture. It often causes rifts between himself and the other characters.

What does this have to do with their age difference or Kataang at all

[fuckyeahkagepro]

CONCLUSIONS re: Kagepro Ages issue + Hibi+Hiyo’s Ages

- in 2012 (May) Konoha’s State of the World TV screens  Hibiya Amamiya was “11″: (ALONG WITH) Hiyori, who canonically has ALWAYS had the “March” birthday, as soon as she was introduced with a birthday alongside Hibiya. which would place her on the YOUNGER END of their shared school year going by the Japanese school system* * THE JAPANESE SCHOOL SYSTEM * BEGINS IN APRIL (APRIL 1ST-2ND) * AND ENDS IN LATE MARCH. * HIYORI’S BIRTHDAY IS MARCH 3RD, * EARLY MARCH. * I.E. BEFORE THE SCHOOL YEAR FINISHES. order of Japanese school year w/this all in mind: April - Japanese school year begins -> August 14th-15th - main series canon happens -> November 4th - Hibiya’s birthday / he ages to 12 -> New Years - happens, YEAR CHANGES TO THE NEXT YEAR -> February 14th - Momo’s birthday / she ages chronologically to 16 from 15 -> March 3rd - Hiyori’s birthday / she ages (FINALLY) to 12 -> end of March - school year ends. ->

^ THAT IS VERY CLEARLY AN “11″ THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THIS IS SEEN AROUND 5 TIMES IN THE PV ON MULTIPLE SCREENS. * BOTH HIBIYA AND HIYORI GET THIS “11″. * IT IS CONFLICTING FOR HIYORI BECAUSE OF HER MARCH BIRTHDAY. * IT IS CHRONOLOGICALLY CORRECT FOR HIBIYA. - Hibiya says he is studying for Junior high school exams in “Talkers”, which would imply he’s entering Junior high the next year. - the grade before he’d enter Junior high implied is ‘6��th (ages 11~12*) - * real-world based setting. - this is the grade they’re in DURING MAIN CANON (6th). - 7th is the grade they enter POST-MAIN CANON, THE NEXT YEAR. - a Japanese 6th grader is equivalent to a US 1st-year middle schooler. - by the time they’re in 7th they’re 2nd-year middle schoolers. Talkers chapter 3 w/Hibiya and Ene: Hibiya: I-It’s not a misunderstanding! I really am thinking of taking the admission exam of a [Junior high] school from Tokyo and I’m getting ready for it! (later on): Hibiya: Well, about that… I gotta begin studying for the [Junior high] school admission exam (later on): Hibiya: Hn, looks like it… They (Hibiya’s parents) said, “if you want to take the [Junior high] school exam, try solving this mystery”. (later on): Ene: With this, they will allow you to take the exam! Hibiya: Yeah! Talkers chapter 9 later has:

Hibiya: Yeah… The new semester started and I met up with Hiyori at school.

”the entrance exam season is when students take intense and difficult examinations to CONTINUE ON to the higher school of their choice ” ”schools throughout the country will hold their examinations over a short period from late January through late February”* * this would be post-August 15th loops. * by then Hibiya would have ALREADY AGED REGARDLESS (from “11″ to “12″ on the first November 4th that occurs post-August 15th.) - in 2013 (January) Kagerou Daze Visual fanbook he was “(about   ? ) 10″. This was WAYYYYYY back in JANUARY 2013, and Hiyori was displayed with THE SAME, ALSO but HIBIYA CANNOT BE 10 IF HIYORI IS. because then that screws up BOTH of their ages, and especially HIYORI’S, ALONG WITH HER GRADE: 2013:

^ BTW KONOHA WAS STILL “?” HERE IN AGE TOO + DISPLAYED AS “HARUKA KOKONOSE”

^ THOSE SURE ARE QUESTION MARKS

^ 2016 “Perfect Guide” REUSES the 2013 profiles. MY SCAN. ”age” is the first line under Hiyori’s picture with the “10″ “?”. So unfortunately, they are NOT up to date, BUT it means their AGES AREN’T IN THESE PROFILES either. NOTE THE QUESTION MARK. @ayara-resara​ confirmed to me it means/implies “ about ? ” BASICALLY. it would make HIYORI CHRONOLOGICALLY YOUNGER,

IF THEY WERE THE SAME “10″ AGE AT START, NOT HIBIYA. AND WE KNOW FOR A FACT HIYORI IS NOT “ 9 ″. BECAUSE OF THE KONOHA’S STATE OF THE WORLD TV SCREENS IN WHICH BOTH WERE ”11″ - in the Summer 2012 Children Record booklet they had NO AGES SEEN: ONLY STILL THE BIRTHDAYS (CIRCLED, IN RED):

^ DO NOT USE THIS BOOKLET FOR YOUR AGES REFERENCES. THERE WERE NO AGES IN THIS BOOKLET, ONLY BIRTHDAYS. - in - in a daze - novel Hibiya says he’s been living in his “small town” for: - “OVER 10 YEARS” + - “ten-PLUS” years “of life” ^ PUBLISHED MAY 2012 IN JAPAN. ” I’ve been stuck in this tiny village for over 10 years ”. ” And my short, 10+ (TEN-PLUS) years of life will be a lackluster thing that I won’t be able to remember, too. ” - in 2014 (July, MCA fandom era) PASH! article he was back at “11″. (Hiyori was listed in his same profile box in relation to him.)

^ THAT IS VERY MUCH AN “11″ THANK YOU.

- These were also the ages RE-USED in the official MCA script according to Japanese translator Zushilove , who is also Japanese / living in Japan and speaks it fluently. THOUGH SHE DID NOT SPECIFY HIBIYAS, SHE DID CONFIRM PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE ELSE’S WERE THE SAME CONFLICTING ONES DISPLAYED IN PASH 2014. - July PASH! also reconfirmed Kano’s “17″ age. - official merch from ONLY 3 years ago ALSO RECONFIRMED Kano’s “17″. - Fuyuyuu’s post’s timestamp here is May 17, 2015. (2015 !!!) - this would imply Zushilove was, as always (AND AGAIN), CORRECT. - we still have NO IDEA, HOWEVER, what age HIBIYA was displayed with at the 2014 MCA Japan-only event that Zushilove described

“ Same as Kano and Seto, Kido is one grade below Ayano/Shintaro. So for the current time setting,* * August 14-15th she’s [Kido’s] at an age to turn 16~17 between April 1 to next year’s March 31. Kido’s birthday is in January 2. Her [Kido’s] official age is “17″ (this age was written in the script of MCA as well) but her actual age is supposed to be 16. It’s even canon that Kido is younger than Kano (May 10th), who is in the same grade as her and also has the official age written as 17… ” “ Yeah….so from these facts, personally what I believe [*Zushilove’s opinion]

is that all of the character’s ‘official age’ is written as the age that they’re going to turn into until next year’s March 31, in order to differentiate each character’s school grade to show their age gaps.

For an example, if the staffs wrote the ‘actual age’ for Kano as 17 and Kido/Seto as 16, they may have thought that the fans will misinterpret that “Kido/Seto is one grade below Kano”……

...because there is this one thing I heard from one of the MCA staffs considering this complicated age setting but yeah I can’t really share that here….  “ 

“ Basically, there is this contradicting ‘offcial age’ thing going on for the characters who have their birthday between August 16 and March 31 “

- Zushilove’s commentary, a year or so ago. * HIBIYA’S BIRTHDAY (NOVEMBER) IS BEWTEEN AUGUST 16 AND MARCH 31ST. August 16 -> November 4th -> etc. (as described above) * HIYORI’S BIRTHDAY (MARCH 3RD) IS BEFORE MARCH 31ST AS WELL. - IT’S VERY POSSIBLE THIS IS WHERE HE /AND/ HIYORI COULD HAVE BEEN LISTED WITH “12″ AT START OF SERIES - AND WHY THAT AGE SPREAD AROUND ONLINE FOR SO LONG. - but even if it WASN’T - HIBIYA AGES TO 12 CHRONOLOGICALLY BY NOVEMBER 4TH ANYWAY - sooooo we COULD just recognize he’s 11~12 - this would place HIYORI at 10~11 chronologically OR, - YOU COULD LET HIYORI BE 11~12 TOO , - BECAUSE SHE IS IN THE SAME GRADE AS HIBIYA, - AND ALSO ENTERING JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL THE NEXT YEAR, - SINCE SHE, TOO, IS ALSO DISPLAYED WITH “11″ - ON “ KONOHA’S STATE OF THE WORLD ” TV SCREENS. - THESE TV SCREENS OF WHICH ARE ALSO STILL CLEARLY SEEN IN THE 2016 GUIDEBOOK IN THE PVs IMAGES SECTION.

- AND YES, THE SERIES TAKES PLACE IN JAPAN (FOR THE FINAL TIME)

ALSO THIS IS MOMO AS OF SIDU’S 2015 ARTBOOK TOO SO:

COMPARE TO KANO WHO HAS HIS “17″ IN 2015 HERE:

^ NOTE THE “17″ ABOVE HIS HEAD

(HOW MANY MORE “17″S DO YOU NEED HONESTLY)

BONUS:

^ NON-CANON WANNYANPUU PV.

STILL-CANON    LYRICS. “DECADE     S     ”. MAKE OF IT WHAT YOU WILL

DO NOT MAKE ME BUY ANOTHER BOOK TO COMPARE OH MY GOD

ALSO IF YOU COULD PLEASE

LET HIYORI LIKE GIRLS AGAIN AND LET HIBIYA LIKE BOYS AGAIN AND LET BOTH LIKE GIRLS AND/OR BOYS AGAIN I’D BE VERY HAPPY AFTER ALL OF THIS BUT WELL Y’KNOW

I FORGOT TO ADD BUT JIN CONFIRMED IN “FUTURE EDITION” SHINTARO WOULD BE AROUND JIN’S AGE WHICH IS 28 WHICH WOULD IMPLY AROUND 10 YEARS LATER WHICH WOULD PUT HIBI+HIYO AT AROUND 20 OK THANK YOU ADULT KIDO WAS CONFIRMED FOR AROUND 25 TOO SO YEAH

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2017 Anime Overview: My Hero Academia Season 2 and KiraKira Precure a la Mode

We return to our look at the summer 2017 anime. I’ve been reviewing the seven anime I watched from worst to best. Previously I talked about the two weakest anime I watched and an anime that was kind of mixed and middling. Now we’re going to talk about too anime I watched that I consider to be Very Good and would overall recommend (with some warnings and caveats regarding some stuff for one of them). Let’s dig in!

My Hero Academia Season 2

I found the first season of My Hero Academia to be pretty good but nothing to get excited about- but damn, this season officially sucked me in. I am now a Fan. Very unwillingly, I might add, but the show wrestled my doubting heart into submission with its endearing characters. fight-y fun and surprisingly good handling of growth and relationships (for the most part). 

The basic concept behind My Hero Academia is that in a world where most people have some form of superpower, superheroism is considered a legit profession. Nerdy teenager Izuku Midoriya really wants to be a hero, but he’s one of the few people born without superpowers. However, when he encounters his idol, the number one hero All Might, everything changes and he soon finds himself enrolled in the top-ranked superhero academy.

MHA sparked my interest by being a superhero show (I’m a huge comics nerd) and kept me interested by having a legit adorable and sympathetic protagonist (Midoriya is very earnest and also cries a lot, both things I find intensely cute and relatable), good animation and generally solid fights and storytelling. But it wasn’t really until this season that it came into it’s own as an impressive ensemble show. It subverted quite a few expectations I had, in a really good way and delivered on some pretty incredible character work and interesting world building. Also, it has a great soundtrack.

The season opened with a tournament arc, and I usually find those pretty boring in shonen (though still good, they were easily my least fave parts of HXH, for instance) but this one really mixed things up by weaving in some really good emotional hooks for the one-on-one fights and actually *gasp* developing characters and rivalries that WEREN’T focused on the protagonist. 

Rather than going the safe and expected route of having a big match-up be between Midoriya and his intimidating, violent explosion-happy rival, the series showed us a fight between explosion dude and the adorable, sweet main female character (whose superpowers were NOT well-suited for fighting his explosions) and used it to showcase her determination even against incredible odds and further her story along. 

It also explored her motive for being a hero- her family isn’t well off and she wants to make some serious cash so they can live in comfort. She worried this motive was “unheroic” but was reassured it was admirable, which was nice to see, especially considering how female characters are generally discouraged from being ambitious.

But the biggest highlight of the arc was the exploration of one character’s trauma and abuse. An arc revolved around a characrer (Todoroki Shouto) having difficulty using the powers he inherited from his abusive father. The story was heartbreaking and well-done and addressed in a very moving way with a very emotional “you are not your parents, it’s your power and body, not theirs” core- but what really impressed me was that the arc’s acknowledgement that this kid’s recovery would not be instantaneous and it was going to be a long and difficult process involving many other steps.

In most shows, once Todoroki had gotten his weird therapy session courtesy of the protagonist, Midoriya, and had been able to use his powers once, it would have been over, done, he’s fixed and he can totally use them now. But instead, the show acknowledged that being able to overcome his trauma enough to use them for a few minutes didn’t mean he’s now so recovered he can just use them whenever he wants. Todoroki realized that he had a lot of unresolved issues he needed to work through and a lot of steps he needed to take before he could recover enough to be truly comfortable with using his powers all the time. “It’s not that I’ve accepted anything, it’s just that, for a moment, I was able to forget about [my dad]”, as he put it. And the show showed us that it had every intention of following him through that recovery process.

Seeing this over-the-top show about superpowers and fights where people suffer ridiculous injuries actually approach trauma recovery in a realistic and nuanced way really shocked me and also majorly tugged by heartstrings. The whole conflict also added some depth to the show’s world building- Todoroki’s scumbag dad is one of the top superheroes out there, despite being a totally horrible person. When being a superhero is a competitive profession rather than a calling you get people who aren’t necessarily “good” or into “saving people” as much as they are in it to make a profit and show off their powers. Which went nicely with the themes of the arc that followed the tournament arc.

The way the show plays around with typical shonen tropes is also great- the show has the highly gifted, arrogant once-upon-a-time-they-were-friends rival for our main character, but he doesn’t become insufferable like most of those characters because the show makes fun of him constantly. None of the other characters put up with his bullshit or take him seriously, he’s constantly called out and made fun of for his asshole attitude and the main character finds him genuinely unpleasant to be around and tried to avoid him socially. This allows his ANGRY EDGELORD nature to be funny rather than annoying, because the show’s in on it too. 

And while Todoroki also could have also been a brooding asshole rival character, he’s pretty quickly to be revealed as a nice, kinda dorky guy who’s just quiet, awkward and introverted due to trauma and lack of social interaction. The show’s really self aware in how if plays with these character archetypes for the most part, and that makes it a pleasure to watch.

The show continued its solid character work, punctuated by dramatic and well done fight scenes, through the next arc. Almost every single kid on the show got a moment to shine this season, and you got to know them as characters and heroes and I came to realize- hey, I REALLY LIKE most of these characters.They’re being developed in a fun and interesting way, and they have lives and motivations that don’t just revolve around the main character. And the relationships and dynamics between the various characters are fun and heartwarming too.

And this includes the girls, who, while definitely outnumbered by the boys and underutilized compared to them, are really competent, interesting and have some great moments and arcs going. I especially enjoyed the mini-arc where one of the girls lost confidence in her ability to lead and thought a dude would be better at it, only for him to assure her she’s way better suited for it than him. Always nice to see ladies in command being respected by the dudes with them.

But that does bring us to the fact that while it has some good female characters, the show also has some pretty big sexism issues. All the older female heroes we’ve seen so far are basically walking sex jokes/fanservice dispensers and even some of the younger female characters are uncomfortably sexualized (Momo’s got the classic “oh she has to wear a ridiculously impractical costume because her powers require it” aka “I gave this teenage female character these powers specifically so I could sexualize her”). The fanservice gets to the point of distracting from the plot at times.

There’s a huge absence of female mentors so far (I hear that gets better later) and out of the entire teaching staff of the school, only one is a woman (and her character boils down to “bondage joke”) What’s more, while the girls are good fighters, their powers tend to be less offensive and "powerful” than the boys (this is especially obvs if you look at their official stats). Oh and there’s this fucker:

...who routinely sexually harasses and assaults his female classmates and it’s supposed to be funny and harmless. Every single time this asshole comes on screen u have to put up with a deluge of gross-ass comments and seeing the female characters repeatedly be objectified and have their space invaded. And no, them hitting him or other characters saying it’s gross does not make it okay. It’s still allowed, it’s still clearly there to be “funny” and “titillating” and it still uses girls being abused as a “fun” interlude. That’s NOT okay. It’s not funny. He adds nothing to the show, he just grinds everything to a halt and makes everything uncomfortable. It’s jarring, and takes you out of an otherwise well done story. I really want him and this type of “humor” to be ejected from the show.

But yeah, with those major issues in mind (and god I wish they weren’t there), I still really enjoyed MHA and can’t wait until the next season. The plot’s ramping up and I can’t wait to see where it goes next. 

KiraKira Precure a la Mode

Kira Kira Precura a La Mode follows a group of magical girls with superpowers based on both sweets and animals. They run a pastry shop together and protect their city from monsters who want to suck the energy of people who are happily enjoying their favorite confections.

Okay, this is still ongoing, but I think it’s safe for me to say at this point that KiraKira is well on its way to being one of my favorite Precure shows, which considering how I’m a pretty big Precure fan, says a lot.

The writing is solid, the characters are fun and well-developed and the animation and art design is well-done and adorable. 

This season added a few fun new touches to the Precure formula, including having two older girls on the team- a pair of 17 year olds hanging with the 14 yr olds (14 is the typical age for Precure protagonists). This pair is a butch and femme couple pretty clearly patterned after Haruka and Michiru- and yes, that also means they are fairly blatantly a lesbian couple. 

There is in fact an entire episode revolving around Yukari (femme cat magical girl) trying to make Akira (butch dog magical girl) jealous by threatening to marry a prince and making Akira compete with him for her love. All the while, Akira struggles with whether she should share her true feelings with Yukari. This culminates in a big love confession scene that added ten years to my life. Seeing the younger girls aggressively encourage and support their relationship is great too.

So yeah, about as blatant as S-season Haruka and Michiru- which, if you understand that reference, means there ARE some scenes that try to cast ambiguity on the relationship. This one, for instance, where Akira acts flustered in response to the prince’s suppositions about her relationship with Yukari (and his incorrect assumption about her gender), makes sense in the context of a  just forming relationship, but also didn’t add much to show and was likely included so the show could make it seem ambiguous if Yukari and Akira will truly enter a relationship.

However, it has been a long time since we’ve gotten lesbians this blatant in a magical girl show aimed at young girls. Ever since the days of Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, gay subtext and text in magical girl shows has been much lighter (and heck, even fanservicey aimed-at-guys magical girl shows don’t seem to have the guts to have girls kiss). 

So the fact Precure is now deliberately homaging and emulating Haruka and Michiru and doing blatant love triangle/confession scenes IS a big deal and a step in the right direction. It’s sad we haven’t progressed since the days of Sailor Moon, but it’s good we’re at least not regressing anymore. And while Akira and Yukari haven’t gotten the word of god “Yes they are lesbians” confirmation Naoko Takeuchi gave Haruka and Michiru, (at least, not any we’ve heard of in the West), I wouldn’t say it’s outside the realm of possibility that could happen. (I really doubt the “lol we’re having sex” lines similar to what we got in Sailor Moon Stars will happen though, just because Precure doesn’t do sexual innuendo). 

And it’s worth mentioning, we do have an official duet song for Yukari and Akira that’s VERY blatantly romantic. “Koi” is even in the title. 

Yukari and Akira are a censored relationship for sure, and it’s obnoxious and wrong those censors are still in place (though not surprising, considering this is a big corporate studio running Precure). They should be able to kiss, they should be openly dating. However, they are obvious enough that if they were a straight couple, we’d be calling them canon at this point, so I’m gonna. Also, I have to shout out that they’ve poured on Utena references GALORE with these two, and I’m super into that. 

It should also be noted that Akira is allowed to maintain her butchness even after transforming into a magical girl- she gets a frilly PRINCE outfit.  That’s a first for a magical girl show aimed at girls (unless you count Utena, which I don’t for various reasons). She’s never derided for her lack of femininity either (in fact she’s considered cool and attractive) which is a very good affirming message for young girls. There’s also another episode that frames rebellion against enforced traditional femininity as a good thing and has women standing up for and supporting other women who don’t follow gender roles. 

To state the obvious, Precure is a show that exists in a capitalist society. So it’s focused on selling toys to little girls and those toys are often stereotypically hyper-feminine. However, it’s still valuable and positive that this show is casting non-gender conforming heroes in a positive light- if a little girl wants to play as Akira, she might have a pink compact, but she can use it to become a dashing butch prince. The lines are blurring in a good way.

Yukari is also notable as a great character- she’s not the genki girl archetype, but messy, petty and a bit cynical. She’s complex. The episodes where she struggles with whether she’s a “good girl” are pretty inspiring and carry the message girls can be heroes even if they’re not all sunshine and daisies. 

In fact, all the characters in the season are ALL pretty solid. Their relationships are fleshed out and so are their arcs. The dynamic the whole team has is great. The villains redemption arcs are strong as well.  And as always, it’s cute as heck and bursting with lady friendship feels.

My biggest problem with this show would be pacing- it suffers from being two rushed a lot of the time, and often tries to cram way too much in one episode rather than giving conflicts and arcs room to breathe. But that’s my only big issue.

It’s possible KiraPre could have a disappointing finale, but I at least feel confident it won’t end in total disaster. It shows none of the warning signs shows like Hachepre did- there’ve been no love triangles, bland male love interests or anything of the sort shoehorned in, so I don’t feel I have to worry about the worst happening (the “worst” being “the finale revolves around soothing a dude’s wounded ego, with the bond between the magical girls and their power being sidelined for the sake of really uncomfortable and contrived het romance”, if you haven’t seen HachaPre). 

Let’s hope KiraPre’s finish is as strong as the rest of it has been!

[rex101111]

I don't know man, I was just curious of the odds in what would happen had deku and ochako are somehow ended up roommates at the dorm., but I have zero imagination, so uh, what do you think would happen???

this got away from me and turned into a huge fanfic oh god why

Oh man! Talk about a call back, I just remembered the time back when the dorms were first announced and just about everyone in the fandom talked about who would be who’s roommate and what nonsense they would get into, before it was reveled that every kid would have their own room instead of rooming together, thus shattering all our hopes, dreams, and most importantly, our fanfics. Ahhh, good times.

As for those two being roommates, I kinda doubt the school would allow two, possibly hormonal, teenagers to live in the same room for a significant amount of time, for obvious reasons, and since there are an even number of both girls (6) and boys (14) in the class, they wouldn’t need too…

But if they DID:

IZUOCHA ROOMMATE AU GO!

Their reactions to hearing they are to share a room are about what youwould expect of them.

Izuku has a bit of an emotional roller coaster at first, on one handhe’s going to be sharing a dorm room with a girl for a considerablelength of time, and his head just floods with how quickly that could becomeawkward and all the ways he could embarrass himself. The more he thinks aboutit the more panicked he grows. The fact that he’s never shared a room with anybodybefore this only compounds the matter.

Onthe other hand, it wasn’t going to be any girl, but Uraraka, one of hisbest friends, someone who knows him and how…weird he could be, and someone hecan actually talk to with some degree of ease, so he figures whateverawkwardness might arise could be smoothed out and laughed off rather easily,heck, it just might be fun! Though…he figures it would still be a littleawkward, since while Uraraka is Uraraka, Uraraka is still a girl…a verypretty girl…with a radiant smile…who probably wears cute pajamas to bed…

All his thoughts of his potentially cuteroommate screech to a grinding halt and whatever relief he might have startedto feel quickly drains out of him when he remembers the sheer volume of AllMight merchandise he brought with him, and he starts to panic all overagain when he imagines what kind of reaction Uraraka would have to all of that.

Asfor Ochako her reaction is rather more…simple. She looks at Izuku from a slightdistance, mulling over the fact that she’s going to share a room with him forthe foreseeable future, her face slowly growing red and her heart thumpingloudly in her ears for a reason she’s only just started to piece together, andthen slowly placing her face in her hands and mutter, very quietly to herself, “Oh…oh no.”

They reach their dorm room, hardly exchanginga word on the way, the both of them nervous for their own reasons; they openthe door, look at each other…and laugh. Seeing that they were both equallyuneasy about this broke some of the tension, and they set off to begin the longand arduous work that is unpacking.

Near the end of the process, Izuku turns to look at Ochako,“Uraraka-san,” He says, his back to his last piece of unopened, andrather bulky, luggage, “We’re friends right?”

Ochakoturns to him, smiling brightly, “Of course we are Deku.” She noticeshow stiffly he’s standing, his back straight and his fists clenched at hissides, and she looks at him a bit questioningly, though still smiling “…Whydo you ask?”

He looks to the floor, worrying his hands, “Well…I just wanted toask that…um…well…” He goes on like that for a moment before sighing andturning to face his last bag, “Please don’t judge me too harshlyUraraka-san.” Finally he unzipped his bag, and slowly reached a handinside.

Ochako is honestly mostly just confused at this; nothing she knows ofIzuku gives her any sort of idea as to what he’s expecting to be judged by herfor, his use of the word harshly hardly helped her at all either, whatwas he going to show her that he’d need to visibly gather courage for?

As Izuku continues to gather up the aforementioned courage, Ochakoremembers a slightly embarrassing episode that she had earlier in the year. Shewas walking around the school during lunch break when she heard snickeringcoming from further down the hallway she was walking in; as she got closer shesaw Kaminari and Mineta chatting quietly amongst themselves, bragging about thesize of their “stash” back home and how well they’ve hidden it, only to stopdead in their conversation when they noticed her not three feet away.

When she asked them what they were talking about, they grabbed her bythe shoulders, dragged her to the dark corner of the school where theywhispering, and got on their knees and begged her not to say a word toany of the teachers and to pretend she heard nothing. She promised, mostly toget them to stop crying as pathetically as they were, but when she asked themagain about what they meant by “stash” they only avoided her gaze and mutteredin unison, “It’s…its private guy stuff y’know?”

That response answered absolutely nothing, of course, but she sawthat she wouldn’t get anything out of them anyway so she dropped it…deciding toask the girls in class instead, knowing the guys in the class would eitheravoid her in much the same way, have no clue, or, in Bakugou’s case, not give aenough of a damn to give her a serious answer.

Momo was just as clueless as she was, and her only contribution to theinvestigation was a guess that was a bit…naïve, “Maybe they were talking abouttheir stash of…study equipment?”

Tooru wasn’t much better, though this time because apparently she knew exactlywhat Ochako was talking about, but the only help she got was a giggle and arather coy, “Why don’t you try asking a few other people? ~”

She caught Tsuyu and Kyouka together, and their responses were the firstreal clue to the answer she was looking for. Kyouka looked rather unsettled, ablush staining her face before she muttered, “Kaminari”, darkly underher breath and turning to stomp away while continuing to mutter, presumably tofind the very same electricity user. Ochako doesn’t want to remember what shedid to him later that same week.

Tsuyu, on the other hand, while looking just as unsettled, simplycleared her throat and, with a much more subdued blush, croaked, “You probablydon’t want to know Ochako-chan.”

Her last option was Mina, who finally put an end to her quandary with acheeky grin, and blunt answer that proved Tsuyu’s guess all too true, “Their‘stash’? Oh yeah! They were probably talking about porn.”

Remembering that answer snapped Ochako straight back to realityjust in time to see Izuku finally begin to take his hand out of the bag. A needto yell at him to keep whatever it is he wants to show her inside the bag and amorbid curiosity to see it (she could practically hear Mina giggle in her ear: whatdo you think his taste are like?) fill up her gut and redden her face asshe watches, her conflicting emotions transfixing her gaze, as Izuku slowlyreveals…

…An All Might action figure, dressed in his famous silver age custom andplaced in his signature pose with its chest puffed out and its fists on itships, and placed it on a table in front of him. Ochako instantly relaxes,letting out a shaky and breath laugh as her full face blush fades to a slightpink tinge on her cheeks, mostly out of a little bit of shame due to thinkingIzuku would be the kind of guy to bring out something like that to adorm, she should have guessed it would be something like this that he wasscared to show her.

She still wasn’t completely sure why he was this scared ofshowing her though; having something like that is nothing to be ashamedof…honestly she was starting to find this whole situation a bit cute…

She opens her mouth to say that Izuku shouldn’t worry about it, butshe’s interrupted when Izuku pulls out another All Might figure, this onedressed in the yellow suit she saw the man wear a few times around school (shedidn’t know people made ones like that), and then another, and another, andanother.

And soon the whole table and a sizable portion of the wall is covered inevery kind of All Might merchandise she can imagine, from All Might figures toAll Might posters to an All Might lamp, it appears that if there existeda kind of All Might memorabilia, then Izuku made it his mission to own it.

Looking at the frankly staggering amount of stuff that Izukusomehow managed to stuff into that bag and place in his half of the room,Ochako finally understood exactly why Izuku was so skittish about showing herall this.

Speaking of Izuku, he finally turned back to look at her, his face redwith nervousness and worrying his hands again, “So…” He choked out at last,“…what do you think?”

She continues to observe his collection, letting herself soak in everydetail and the sheer volume of admiration one person can have for another allat once amazes and doesn’t surprise her in the least, considering who’s standingbefore her, and a smile grows on her face with every object she sees, untilfinally she looks at Izuku with a smile stretched from ear to ear and cheekstinged pink, and exclaims with every bit of affection she can muster, “Justwhat I expected out a geek’s room!”

Izuku’s face fills with embarrassment, falling to his hands and knees,surprising Ochako and breaking her out of her reverie as Izuku pitifullymutters in almost comical despair, “Right, of course, just as expected from ageek…”

“Wait nonono!” Ochako flails a bit, falling to her knees in front ofDeku, worry etched on every inch of her face, “I meant that as a good thing! Agood thing!”

Izuku lifts his face, a bit of the despair leaving his face, “…really?”

“Yeah really!” She springs herself up right, grabbing his hand to bringhim along with her, and gestured to the collection, “I mean, look at all this!”She laughs and picks up the first figure and holds it up to him, “You have alot of admiration for All Might! And you got all this stuff because of that!”She turns the figure in her hands for a moment, before gently setting back down where Izuku put it, “You look up tosomeone and what they represent, you want to be like them, and you want peopleto know it…”

Izuku looks at her, his heart swelling with something he can’t quite puthis finger on, a blush staining his face, “Uraraka-san…”

She looks up so their eyes meet, a soft smile on her face, “Being soproud of your admiration of someone…of what they stand for…putting all of it ondisplay and trusting someone else with it…” She fidgets with the tips of herfingers, her nervousness rising and her face heating up for a reason shedoesn’t want to think about, instead she just smiles wider at him, “I thinkit’s really cool, Deku.”

The only thing Izuku can think to do is stare at her wide-eyed, openingand closing his mouth wordlessly, trying to convey something before he chuckleslightly and matches her smile with one of this own, “Thank you Uraraka-san.”

They stand like that for a while, smiling brightly at each other, theworld a hundred miles away…at least until they notice how close they arefor the first time and taking a step back from each other, each of them lettingout a nervous laugh and looking away, both of their faces glowing bright red.

Ochako looks at the collection again, and laughs again, trying to easethe tension, “You know…to be honest I’m actually kinda jealous.”

Izuku looks up in surprise, “Really?” He follows her gaze to hiscollection and laughs a little despite himself, “Jealous? Of all this stuff?”

She laughs right back at him, giving his forearm a light punch, “Yeah!Of course I am!” She gestures at the merchandise, “I mean look at all ofit! Having so much of this stuff is really cool!” She places a hand onone of the figures, her voice taking on a more wistful tone and the edges ofher mouth tilting up, “I could never have this much stuff or even a little ofit…” Her hand falls from the figure to hang at her side, her smile not quitereaching her eyes, “…It would have been too expensive.”

Izuku’s expression falls, remembering her parent’s situation,“Uraraka-san…”

Ochako whirls to face him, her smile stretching further than it did amoment before, almost as if in response to his tone, “But hey! It wasn’t allbad!” She clasps her fingers behind her back and looks at the celling, “Lots ofkids in my elementary and middle schools brought some of their cooler stuff toshare, so it’s not like I never got the chance to at least play with that stufffor a while,” She sweeps a hand in the direction of the collection that startedthis whole mess, “And now, I have a roomie with the best All Mightcollection ever!” She flashes the brightest smile he’s seen her wear for awhile, but it still doesn’t quite reach her eyes, “So it’s fine! Really! It’s awesome!”

Izuku had a nagging feeling, but decided not to prod, so he just smiled,“Right.” He looked at Ochako again, something still feeling off, “Uraraka-san,”He started, Ochako looking at him oddly, “You sure you never had any hero stuffas a kid? Even something small?”

Ochako kept staring at him for a moment before averting her eyes to thefloor and rubbing the back of her head, “…well, there was that one time…” Shelooked at him with a quiet little smile, “I was about…six I think? My folks andI went to a 100 yen store to do some last minute weekend shopping, when I sawthis really cute All Might keychain…” She let out a sad chuckle, “It was justhis face dangling from a little silver ring, ya know, cheap, but it looked cuteto me so…I kinda begged my dad to buy it.”

She looked down again, fidgeting with her fingers again, ”And he did…onour way back home a thunderstorm started up, a bad one, pouring rainn’everything…” She sighed wistfully, “I was holding the keychain in my hand‘cause I was so excited to have it, but a thunder clap spooked me and I droppedit…rain carried it to a sewer drain and…” She shrugged her shoulders, “That wasthat.” She let out a laugh that was just on the edge of bitter, “Really bummedme out, let me tell ya…”

Izuku had a feeling that ‘bummed out’ was a bit of an understatement.

“I didn’t ask my folks for anything like that afterwards…” The smilecompletely slipped off her face, “Didn’t want them to waste money on somethingwe didn’t need, y’know?”

Izuku felt a bit helpless, his friend slipped more and more into asomber tone as she told that story, until she finally just stared at the floor,her face sullen looking as if she’s holding back tears. He was kicking himselffor getting her to tell a story that obviously still hurt a bit to remember,and seeing her like that made him mentally scramble for a way to cheer her up,but try as he might he came up blank.

“Oh geez…” Ochako started laughing mirthlessly out of nowhere,kicking Izuku out of his mental ditch, “I just noticed my accent slippedout again, I hate it when that happens,” She rubbed the back of her head,still not meeting Izuku’s eyes, “Makes me sound stupid…”

“No it doesn’t!”

Ochako looked up at the sudden exclamation, finally meeting Izuku’seyes, and saw something she hadn’t seen before; he was angry, truly andhonestly mad that she would think that way about herself, fists clenched andleaning over in her direction, the sheer shock knocked some life into hercheeks as she stares at him, “Huh?”

A second passed and Izuku’s mind caught up with his words, causing himto blush and straighten his back, looking away with a sputter, “I mean…um…Idon’t think Uraraka-san’s accent sounds stupid…” He found the mostinteresting spot on the wall to his right and kept his eyes there, blushing upto his ears, “I actually think it sounds kind of…” His voice loweredand lowered with every word until it was almost level with the floor, butsomehow she still heard him say the last one, “…cute.”

A thousand things popped and rattled around Ochako’s chest, knockingagainst each other and causing an unearthly racket, they were causing so muchnoise in her chest that some of the blood that ought to be there fled up to herface to escape it. And now Ochako had a feeling that if she didn’t end thisconversation right now she would do something she would (probably)regret.

“Oh hey!” She exclaimed out of nowhere, startling Izuku out ofhis intense wall staring, “I still have stuff to unpack!” She pointedat the two puny pieces of luggage that were still unopened, “I better takecare of that quick!” With that she hurried over to her side of the room,making a point of not looking at her friend for fear that he’d see how brightlyred her face was glowing at this point.

Izuku watches as she rushes offto her bags with a blush of his own, rubbing his head in embarrassment,honestly, of all the ways he thought he could make living with a girl awkward,he didn’t think calling the girl cute would be one of them.

Seeing her frantically fumble around with the zippers of her last twobags only made him feel worse, he pulled at his lower lip as he thought of someway to lessen the sudden tension in the air. He thought and thought until hishead started to hurt, when suddenly something occurred to him, with a rush hewent back to some of his luggage, looking for something.

Just as Uraraka was beginning to tire of fighting the bags, and rightbefore she started to consider just getting Mina to melt the zippers off, sheheard Deku calling her, “Uraraka-san!”

“Huh?”

“Catch!”

She turned around just in time to see him toss something her way, hereyes widened in surprise as she managed to just barely catch it with a yelp;she gave Izuku a reprimanding look, “Deku! A warning would be nice!” Deku inresponse only grinned at her, “What did you even give…me…” She opened her handand saw a keychain, All Might’s grinning face hanging off a simple silver ring,it looked a bit old, the ring had a few stains of rust on it, but looking at itconjured memories of a long gone rainy day with her parents.

“It’s the one from your story right?”

She looked up at him, eyes astonished and mouth hanging open, “W-why…”Her eyes sank back down to stare at the keychain, her cheeks warm and tearspricking her eyes, “Why would you…”

Izuku’s expression fell a little, “I’ve had that keychain for a longtime, and since you’ve lost yours a long time ago, and I’ve got like…three moreof those back home…” He worries his hands nervously, “I thought you should haveit.”

“D-Deku…you really don’t have to-”

“I want to,” He said with conviction, his eyes apologetic, “I made yousad by asking that question, so I wanted to make it up to you.” He gave her ablindingly bright smile, “Consider it an apology gift.”

Ochako looks at him, at his bright smile and lets the kindness of hiswords wash over her, looks down at her hand and the small, simple, cheapkeychain laying in her palm, she holds it close to her heart as she takes a fewsmall strides to stand in front of him, her eyes meeting his, “Thank you Deku.”

Izuku laughs a little, his cheeks a little red, “It’s no problem Ura-“

Before he could finish, and before she can stop herself, Ochako gets onher tiptoes and plants a short, soft kiss on his right cheek, her warm breathelightly caressing his face, before she’s back on the ground with a facesplitting smile, “No, really, thank you so much Deku.”

A beat of silence fills the room as what Ochako just did sinks inproperly for both of them, their faces running the gamut of shock, disbelief,confusion, before finally settling on a shade of red that is probably more thana little impossible achieve.

The both of them stand there with their mouths hanging open beforeOchako snaps her jaw closed, shacking Izuku awake.

“U-Uraraka-san-“

“OH!”

“Wh-“

“I JUST REMEMBERED!”

“What did you-“

“TSUYU ASKED ME TO HELP WITH SOMETHING!”

“Huh?-“

“I BETTER GET GOING.”

“Hold on a-“

“SEE YOU LATER DEKU!”

“Uraraka-san wait-“ Before he could fully get his bearings and finishhis sentence, Ochako flees the room in record speed, holding her face in herhands and leaving him alone in the room.

As the sounds of her footsteps peter out, Izuku puts a hand to hischeek, the feeling of Ochako’s small, soft lips forever imprinted in his mind;he mindlessly walks over to his bed and falls backwards onto it, his hand stillon his cheek.

As he numbly looks up at the ceiling, a grin spreads across his cheeksunbidden, “Okay…” He mutters to himself, “Maybe sharing a room with a girl won’tbe so bad…” A moment later his mind catches up with his mouth again, and hisface burns anew, and he covers it with a pillow hoping against hope the ground swallowshim whole before his big mouth inevitably says something like that in front ofsomeone else, especially Uraraka.

Downstairs in the common room, Ochako does much the same on a couch, wallowingin despair over her lack of self-control and wondering when her life became ateenage romantic comedy…all the while still holding on to that cheap All Mightkeychain…