The Colloidal Paradox

4. The First Laugh

"Come on dude, we got a spot for you right here." Kirishima pointed to the empty space beside Allira.

Bakugo thought about it for a second, contemplating what he would do. Sit with his friends, or eat in peace. Giving into peer pressure, he rolled his eyes and stomped over. With a growl and quiet mumbling of annoyance, he set down his bag and sat with his class.

Allira couldn't help but feel awkward as he sat next to her, was she really that bad of a seat partner? He could barely bring himself to sit next to her during class, let alone lunch.

"Don't mind him, Bakugo is always grumpy." Kirishima noticed Allira's expression.

The class all nodded in agreement, knowing his true nature. In response, Bakugo ignored them and let out a low tsk sound.

Not wanting to engage in an argument, he pulled out a box from his bag. It seemed that he had also brought a packed lunch, something the rest of his classmates had not done. Everyone else at the table had a tray of school food, except herself and now Bakugo. She wondered if he brought food for the same reason as she did.

Allira continued to watch and examine her surroundings, the food people ate, the color of the walls, the smell of the air. She wanted to remember all of it, just in case her family would be called away unexpectedly, again. As she took note of everything around her, she realized something.

Not once during her time with her classmates had she thought about her appearance, she didn't feel self conscious about her albinism. She didn't have that itching feeling, the nagging notion that they were judging her. For the first time in her life, she felt...comfortable. Which was insane, because it was her first day at this school. First days were always a nightmare. But, for some reason, this wasn't.

But why? Why did she feel this way, and why so quickly?

Allira looked down at herself and then back to the people sitting next to her, then out to the rest of the school. Then she saw it.

The entire school was filled with different varieties of people and quirks. Students with large mutations, horns, extra limbs, odd colored hair and many other "unnatural" shapes. People her age, walking around, all aiming to be heroes because of what made them different.

These students were not ashamed of what they were, but instead, used those diversities to make themselves better.

The thought made Allira happy, she had never thought about herself like that before. Never saw that potential in herself and it only took one day at U.A. to see it.

Lost in her own thoughts, Allira smiled softly to herself. Her eyes staring blankly at her food, her lips lifted just enough for Bakugo to notice.

The sight of her smiling was nice, it was the first time he had seen her smile and was pleasant to look at. Her soft features lightened nicely as she was lost in her own thoughts.

Bakugo wasn't intentionally staring at her, but he couldn't help but notice her smile. She was sitting so close to him, it was hard not to be aware of everything she did, he felt like his body was on high alert. Not alerting to danger, but highly mindful of his actions. For some reason he knew exactly where she was when he walked in the room and now, even so close, he kept an eye on her.

As he dwelled upon Takari, the odd feeling in his stomach returned. Not wanting to ruin his appetite he cracked his neck and thought about something else. He wouldn't waste the food he had made last night, not when he spent precious time making it.

The action of Bakugo cracking his neck, pulled Allira from her thoughts and back into the present. She shook her head and brought her mind back to reality. All of her classmates were still eating and chatting around her, each of them laughing and predicting the new semester.

It seemed that every person in her class was quite friendly, but not quiet at all. Even some of the less chatty people like Todoroki, Shinso and Tokoyami were involved in some conversation. All but herself and one other person.

The boy who sat next to her, who only sat down because he was asked. Bakugo was silently eating his food, not engaging in any kind of conversation. When asked a question, he would nod or shake his head, an occasional grunt reverberated from his throat. Overall he was very calm and non-inviting.

Allira related to this, being the quiet one around rowdy people. He must have been adopted into the group last year and was accustomed to all his friends' antics. Maybe she would get along well with Bakugo, since they were both quiet and didn't enjoy socializing.

However, before she could think about it any further. Something happened that would change her perspective on Bakugo's personality.

"Hey Kacchan, do you still have that book from Midnight?" Midoriya called from across the table.

"What are you talking about!" Bakugo suddenly exploded loudly, his voice rough and slightly embarrassed. "I didn't borrow anything like that, especially from the likes of her!"

Allira watched in shock as Bakugo's face literally changed shape, his eyebrow creased tight and jaw clenched. His entire countenance altered so quickly, by the mere thought of a book and the voice of his friend.

She couldn't help but watch in awe as her profile of Bakugo shattered into pieces. He wasn't quiet at all, in fact he sounded louder than anyone else at the table. His usual deep controlled voice now boomed with expression and unreasonable anger. He had no reason to burst so suddenly, yet he was practically biting off their ears.

For some odd reason, Allira found Bakuko's drastic behavior to be hilarious and wasn't able to stop the laughter from exiting her mouth. Her shoulders shook as giggles escaped her throat, a sound not often found from her.

All eyes watched in surprise at the small girl laughing at Bakugo's outburst. No one else was laughing, they were all used to his off behavior. Thus, it was expected for him to lose his cool. But this was the first time Allira had seen it and she found it funny.

However, Bakugo was not happy with her laughing at him. "What are you laughing about?!"

Allira held her stomach and tried to contain herself. She waved her hand in front of her face, saying that she was fine and not to pay attention to her silliness. Yet her giggles continued.

"Knock it off, I didn't do anything funny!" Bakugo couldn't understand why she was laughing so hard. But deep down, he couldn't deny that her laugh sounded like bells. Her voice sounded sweet and precious in his ears. He hated it.