Powerfully Weak

oOo 16 oOo

"Fucking hell! Get off of me!"

"You asked for this!"

"Like hell I did!"

"You came directly to me! Besides, it's not my fault you decided to strain your arms so much!"

"Son of a-"

Keiko forced herself not to groan, shooting yet another glare at Katsuki. He had all but thrown the first place medal at her the moment the students had been released after the festival. There were quite a number of students still around, but technically Keiko was still working. There was still the second and third years to go, and essentially anyone could come in with an injury.

It had been a welcome surprise to see him walking down the hall towards her, leaving her quick to congratulate his first place victory. The moment the door shut to the infirmary however, his medal had gone flying and missed her by only an inch or two. Luckily, Shuzenji was out making her rounds otherwise he would have been kicked out almost immediately.

"Five more minutes- not even that long- if you would just stay still, I would be able to confidently let you walk away," she sighed. "For all I know you could have torn a muscle or damaged the nerves in your arms. Quirk drawbacks are nothing to scoff at."

His glare didn't fade.

She sighed. "I'm just worried. I want you to swear that if the pain doesn't fade or something that you'll tell me. Does that sound reasonable?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and turned away, but said nothing. She assumed that was the best she was going to get.

A silence filled the room as she stood and continued to clean up what they had used during the first-year's part of the festival. A second year could come in at anytime, and soon it would be the third year's. UA had pulled all three years into a one day event, with the youngest at the start of the day, and the graduating third years closing things later that night.

It was a great idea, other than the fact that Keiko felt constantly on edge as she waited for a student to be rushed in. The fact that the festival would be lasting much longer than the average day wasn't going to help the headache she could feel creeping in.

"Oi, blondie. How long are you staying at this stupid fucking festival?"

Her seafoam eyes glanced his way, noticing how he was making himself at home on the cot.

"Recovery Girl and I are going to be on the premises for the entirety of the festival should any injuries occur. Things may change of course, but that's what I'm assuming will happen," she mused, tucking the roll of bandages back away.

"Seriously?"

"Uh, yes," she responded. "Third years can get just as desperate to prove themselves as any other year. Injuries can happen for any reason, not just because of a fight."

He clicked his tongue, his crimson eyes closed. Keiko narrowed her eyes slightly before letting out a sigh. There wasn't much she could do about the explosive blonde.

"Shouldn't you be heading home soon yourself?" she questioned, staring at the boy who quite obviously wasn't not moving.

"Eh, I'd rather not deal with the hag fucking yelling at me right now. Besides, she'd be damn happy if she found out I was with you," he spat, pulling out his phone. "Call her if it fucking makes you feel better blondie."

A small smile threatened to form on her face as she snatched the phone from his grip. Slowly, she felt like she was getting closer to understanding her explosive- well she wasn't sure what exactly to call him, but Keiko decided that she would call him her friend until he found out and gave her a proper screaming fit to put her in her place. Even the thought of him trying to convince her that they weren't friends didn't seem to do much to dissuade her thoughts.

"I give her a call, and don't worry, I try my best to get you off the hook for any possible scolding tonight," she mused, hesitantly making her way through his phone. It still seemed like a breach of privacy in some way, but in the end he was the one that had given his phone to her.

All she received in return was a scoff.

For some reason Mitsuki really did seem to like her. The woman was easy to give her permission for Katsuki to stay until Keiko was free to leave, only making one comment about letting her know if he caused any trouble, which put a small frown on her face. Quick to end the conversation once it was clearly shifting away from the reason she had called, Keiko handed the phone back with a small sigh.

"I'm starting to see why you two don't really get along," she mumbled, pushing off the odd feeling she was getting. She respected his mother and thought she was a really nice woman, but sometimes the way she treated Katsuki reminded her of how her own parents had treated her brother.

It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Sure enough, they continued to work and watch the rest of the festival, though any injuries they dealt with seemed much less intense compared to the first years. Eventually, Keiko had to go back out to the field to watch the other events, leaving her to wonder what the blonde boy had ended up doing in her absence. It was unlikely that he had stayed in the medical bay with Recovery Girl.

As the festival drew to a close, Keiko felt like her limbs were a bit heavier than normal. The second and third years were better at avoiding injuries, but that just meant she had to keep a very close eye and move around to properly watch their more purposeful and pricise movements.

She couldn't wait to get home and take a nice, long, hot bath. Aside from that, the girl felt like she could fall asleep with ease tonight. With her arms stretched over her head as she walked down the empty halls to talk with her mentor, it hit her how much more tired the students must feel after actively participating. Especially since he pushed so hard in all events to make it to first place, worry instantly began to pool in her chest at the thought of keeping Katsuki out so late.

"Oi, blondie. Over here, I'm walking you home." Her eyes snapped over to where he was leaning against the gates, a bit startled to see him still here. "And don't say a damn thing about it being late, what I do isn't your fucking problem."

It must have been written pretty clearly on her face for him to react like that.

"R-Right," she sputtered, hands holding tightly to the strap on her bag.

His crimson eyes narrowed slightly as they began walking, though it didn't seem aggressive like it normally was. He seemed off, but it wasn't in a bad way which just made her confusion grow even more. His cursing seemed half-hearted which was against almost everything about him, but they soon lasped into a comfortable silence.

Her thoughts about the boy quickly faded once they reached her home, especially when she noticed the place seemed rather shut down like no one had been home for a while. Even Katsuki seemed a bit put off.

"Your brother's not here?" he asked, shock evident on his face. "I figured he would pick you up or some shit, but the place is dead."

"Oh, I'm sure he's just working late or something," Keiko tried to explain. "Thank you for walking me home, I hope you make it home safe yourself."

She stood in the doorway as he turned around, a softer expression on his face than his normal snarl. "Yeah, yeah. See ya around blondie."