Solstice and Eclipse: Part IV

Chapter XIV: September the 23rd

Mina Ashido jumped from her seat at the sound of the final bell and haphazardly threw her books into her backpack, bolting out the door before the bell had even finished ringing. The other girls laughed and shook their heads at their friend's behavior, taking their time to pack away their things and to wait for Yaoyorozu, whose birthday it was.

"So like, do longer nails really help with guitar?" Ochako asked interestedly.

"Depends on personal preference." Jiro closed her notebook in her binder. "But it suits my style more." She said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"We should probably head out soon. Ribbit." Tsu said, joining the other two as they walked over to Yaoyorozu's desk. "I'm sure Ashido's probably already halfway to the dorms by now."

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Uraraka squealed as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "I've never gotten a manicure before. Thanks again for paying for me, Jiro. I promise I'll make it up to you soon!"

"I already told you; you don't need to worry about it." Jiro said.

"Are we all ready to go?" Yaoyorozu asked, carefully zipping her pencil holder in the front pouch of her bag.

"Just about. Ribbit. We're just waiting on Hakagure. She didn't do to well on last week's test."

The four of them looked up at the front of the class where Aizawa was lecturing Hakagure. They gave her an empathetic look and winced as their teacher dropped a large stack of papers on top of his podium for her.

"Poor Hakagure." Jiro said sympathetically. "That test was killer. I barely passed it myself. Think we could do another study session soon?"

"Mmhmm." Yaoyorozu nodded. "I'm busy this weekend celebrating with my parents, but I could do next weeked."

"Yeah, that would be... oh, 'sup (L/N)?"

The girls all turned and looked over to see (L/N) standing just outside their conversation. Tsu and Uraraka mumbled an awkward greeting which he ignored. As he took a few hesitant steps forward, they quickly stepped away, breaking the circle they'd formed around Yaoyorozu's desk.

"Uh, h-hi." He whispered, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Hi." Momo said uncomfortably. The memories of their last interaction took to the forefront of her mind. She'd tried knocking on his door later that evening, but she'd gotten no response, and instead vented to the girls about him and what Kendo had told her and how confused it all made her.

"Can we talk?" He glanced up at the others and added, "In private?"

"O-Okay."

Standing up, Yaoyorozu followed (L/N) to the back corner of the classroom. His hands were still in his pockets and the thought crossed her mind that maybe it was because he didn't want her holding his hand.

"Um..." He swallowed nervously. "H-H-Happy birthday." He stuttered quietly, shyly looking at the floor.

"Oh, um, thank you." Momo replied. She waited for him to say more, but all he did was nervously fidget with the inner lining of his right pocket. "Was that all?"

"No." He took a quick half step forward and started to remove his hands from his pockets. "No, I um... I wanted to... to give y-"

"Oh my gosh!"

A loud squeal interrupted them. Looking over her shoulder to find the cause, Yaoyorozu saw Hakagure's uniform running up to her then felt a pair of hands pulling on her arm.

"This is gorgeous!"

Looking at her arm, Yaoyorozu realized Hakagure was gushing over the bracelet she'd bought herself at the mall the other day. Her scream caught the attention of Jiro, Uraraka, and Tsu, and the three of them gathered around to also admire the diamond studded bracelet.