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{Move in Day & Memorable Encounters}
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Word Count: 5226
The interesting school day had officially ended and Costa's head had filled with ideas after the conversation in the locker room. Rescue training had forced her to come to the realization that she wasn't fast enough on her own.
Sure, she ran nearly every morning and night and it earned her an upper hand in hand-to-hand combat but rescue training was where her abilities were strained. Costa had always been a firm believer in depending on her own physical abilities other than the flexibility of quirk. She thought depending on quirks made heroes lazy and incredibly vulnerable to people like Eraserhead.
So she always took pride in the fact that she could freely fight without her quirk.
But could she easily rescue without her quirk?
No, probably not.
She was standing with the others in the kitchen area of Heights Alliance, her things already moved upstairs to the fifth floor. Her lips twisted to the side as she zoned out, staring at the two-toned color of Todoroki's hair as Mina babbled on about how fun dorms are beside her. She occasionally smiled and nodded, but her mind wasn't really there, at least not like it usually was.
"Hello?? Earth to Miriara!", Mina waved a hand in front of her friend's face and Costa snapped out of it with a sheepish smile, "Sorry, I'm kind of in my head today."
"Yeah, I can tell", Mina chuckled, leaning against the counter, "Are you thinking about the speed thing?"
Costa nodded, trying not to close her eyes in delight when the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air as Sato opened the oven. He'd gotten to work as soon as they arrived back at the dorms, explaining to Costa that he wanted to make her something special in honor of her moving into the dorms. Costa didn't miss the blush that tainted his cheeks and the way his brown eyes looked in every direction except hers. She thanked him, giving him a playful wink and a pat on the arm. He nearly combusted.
"What speed thingy?", Kaminari perked up, having been waiting for an opportunity to talk to Costa. Costa switched her gaze over to him and he melted into his crossed arms that leaned over the countertop. Costa smiled fondly at the boy, "I'm trying to figure out a way to advance my speed with my quirk."
"Ahh like light speed?", Kaminari's eyes brightened, "That would be the coolest thing."
"Yao-Momo thinks she should make a surfboard made of light!"
"WOAHH that would be dope as hell", Kaminari and Mina exchanged excited gestures and Costa grinned like an idiot. She'd considered those two crackheads her closest friends so far, their carefree and friendly attitudes drawing her in like a moth to a bright light.
A bright light.
"Have you two ever liked each other?", Costa asked with a sly smirk, already knowing the answer but deciding to tease them about it anyways. Mina and Kaminari shared a look before they burst out laughing. Costa's grin grew as they slapped the counter, playfully pushing each other with their fists.
"HA- ha yeah right...", Kaminari clutched his stomach with one hand and wiped away an invisible tear with the other.
"Y-you think-", Mina gasped for air, "I'd ever settle for HIM! HA!"
Kaminari fake gasped in offense, shoving her hard and knocking her onto the kitchen floor. Mina landed on her butt with an 'oof', looking up at Kaminari with the evilest smirk Costa had ever seen on her pink friend's face. Mina lunged for Kaminari, "Oh you're gonna get it!"
"NO HELP", Kaminari dodged her before running out of the room, screaming like a little girl as Mina chased him outside. Costa laughed, shaking her head slowly at the two child-like teenagers.
"They're a lot sometimes but you get used to it", Sero chirped up, sidling up to Costa with a friendly look on his face. Costa grinned, a pretty laugh falling from her lips when Kaminari tried to jump over the couch and caught his foot on one of the cushions, causing him to faceplant onto the common-room floor.
It didn't take long before Mina was cackling and Iida was yelling at them, waving his robot arms in the air wildly.
"It's refreshing", Costa said with a sigh, leaning her cheek against her fist as she supported herself on the kitchen island. Sero nodded in agreement, cracking open his soda and taking a swig. He caught Costa eyeing his drink from his peripheral vision and pulled back, "You want one?"
"Sure, what flavor?"
"Orange vanilla cream", Sero said, examining the ingredients on the back of his can before swiveling toward the fridge, swinging the door open. Cost hummed in response, lazily rolling her head to the side to watch him grab another soda for her, "Sounds good, thanks."
He tossed it to her and she caught it swiftly.
"So is your room all set up?", Sero asked, leaning his hip against the counter as Costa cracked open her drink and took a sip.
She hummed in delight and Sero fought back a smile.
"Not completely. I still have to unload some boxes", she said with a look of irritation on her features, wanting to spend her first evening hanging out with her new classmates instead of unpacking. Sero nodded with an amused glint in his eyes, understanding her discontent. Just as he was about to reply, Kirishima stepped into the kitchen, a red headband around his forehead and sweat drenching him from head to toe.
"Oh hey Kiri", Costa smiled at him as he approached them, "Did you have a nice workout?"
"Oh yeah", he said a bit breathlessly, "It's beautiful out. Bakugou and I ran 3 miles and then did weights for like an hour"
Costa nodded, watching Kirishima grab a water bottle out of the fridge. Once he popped open the cap, he chugged all the water out of that bottle in a matter of seconds.
"If you don't mind", Sero turned his attention back to Costa, causing Kirishima to perk up at the conversation, "I could help you unpack the rest of your boxes. I'm pretty fast at unpacking things."
"Really?", Costa said, jumping up at the offer. Sero nodded eagerly.
"I'd be happy to help as well as soon as I've showered", Kirishima said with a friendly, sharp-toothed grin. Costa smiled at both of them, gratitude showing through her amber eyes, "That would be such a big help, thank you."
"No problem at all!", Kirishima swatted the air, "In fact, give me 10 minutes and I'll meet you up there."
Kirishima stalked out of the kitchen hurriedly, bounding up the stairs two at a time to get to the boys showers as fast as he could. Costa looked up after him, chuckling to herself as she shook her head, "He just can't help but be friendly and helpful, can he?"
Sero chuckled with her, taking a swig of his soda, "It's in his nature."
+
"And then the pros showed up and All Might beat the crap out of the villains."
Costa raised her eyebrows in amusement as Kirishima told her the story of the USJ incident last year, making explosive sound effects and waving his hands around in exaggeration. Sero chimed in, filling in the details that Kirishima left out as he taped the last of the posters to Costa's wall. Kirishima and Sero had spent the past hour unpacking her room and swapping stories from their first years in different hero academies.
She'd answered every single question about Shiketsu, noting on how it wasn't very different than UA but definitely less eventful when it came to villain attacks.
"Don't forget about when Snipe showed up and was all like 'pew pew' at that crusty dude", Sero joined in, forming his hands into the shape of a gun, causing Costa to bark out a laugh.
"You are both very theatrical, I can see why you're friends with Kaminari and Ashido", Costa said, straightening her pillows and tucking her comforter into her pale yellow, satin bedsheets. Kirishima and Sero shared a grin, nodding in silent agreement. Costa bit her lip, hesitating before adding, "Which makes me wonder how you all got mixed up with someone like Bakugou."
Sero met her gaze and nodded, understanding how she could see it that way. Kirishima leaned against her desk, folding his hands into his lap calmly.
"Well", Kirishima said, looking up at the ceiling before his lips morphed into a shark-toothed grin, "Once you get past the initial shock from his brashness, he's not so bad."
Costa shot him an incredulous look before Sero piped in, "Yeah, exactly. At first, I thought the same thing."
"So what changed your mind about him?", Costa asked, plopping down onto her now well-made bed. Sero turned toward her, pulling her desk chair across her rug to sit before shrugging. Kirishima scratched his chin.
"He's...", Kirishima paused as if he was looking for the right word, "Driven. More driven than anybody I've ever known and although it can be overbearing at times, it's also... very admirable."
"Yeah, just being around him makes you wanna do more- work harder", Sero agreed, both of them smiling faintly as they spoke of their friend. Costa flicked her gaze between both boys as realization dawned on her. She thought everyone just tolerated Bakugou, not that they didn't care about him but she didn't expect some of them to be so fond of the angry boy.
These were two boys that respected and admired him simply for being exactly who he is. He's incredibly stubborn. As angry as they come. Absolutely ridiculous and irrational at times.
But he's also strong. Intelligent. Ambitious. A top-tier student in the hero course. And people genuinely cared about him for it.
Costa couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face as her thoughts ran wild and her gaze stuck to the ruffly, yellow rug on her hardwood floor.
"I guess I might've judged him too quickly", she chewed on her bottom lip before peering up at the two boys that were staring at her, "He's still an ass though."
"Oh, he's always been an ass and always will be", Sero chuckled and Kirishima joined in on his laughter, "That part's never gonna change."
"And yet he hopes to be a hero?", Costa questioned, leaning back on her elbows, "How do assholes win over the hearts of civilians?"
"Maybe he needs to get a girlfriend- will prolly straighten him out a bit", Sero snorted, earning a nudge from Kirishima who was looking at him disapprovingly, "What?!"
"Don't ever say that in front of him- he'll try to murder you", Kirishima scolded him before turning back to Costa, "Maybe he'll get brownie points for originality."
Costa barked back a laugh, sitting up to leaning her elbows on her knees as she conversed with her new friends. Sero rolled his eyes, scooting his chair closer to where Costa was sitting to quietly speak to her, "Bakugou gets angry whenever someone mentions him and girls."
Kirishima sent him a warning glare and Costa quirked an eyebrow, leaning into Sero and her's hushed conversation, very aware that the door was wide open and the subject of their conversation's room was on that very floor. "And why is that?", Costa asked, her interest peaked by the particular subject.
For no reason at all, of course.
Sero shrugged his shoulders before a smirk appeared on his face, "I think it's because he secretly knows he scares off every single girl he meets, therefore can never pull one."
"Hey", Kirishima said in a warning tone, "As we said, he's not so bad. I'm sure one day a special girl will come to realize that too."
"Doubt it", Sero said with a cringe, and Costa bit her lip in deep thought.
'Bakugou with a girlfriend? Seems very hard to imagine', she thought with a snort and a shake of her head.
"Anyways-", Sero said, stretching out his limbs when a head popped in through the doorway. Costa smiled when she saw Uraraka's rosy cheeks and innocent big, brown eyes come into view. "Hey, Uraraka. What's up?", Costa asked and the two other boys turned their attention toward the new face.
"Woah, your room looks so good!", she squealed, stepping through the doorway and looking around in wonder. Costa chuckled, nodding at her in silent thank you as she looked around.
"Thanks, Kirishima and Sero did all the work", Costa chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows at the two boys across from her. They rolled their eyes, Sero speaking up in a sarcastic tone, "Yeah she bribed us to do it for her."
Ochaco looked taken aback as Costa grinned at the dark-haired boy, her spanish accent thick as she said, "Serán 2000 pesetas, chico lindo. (That'll be 2000 pesetas, pretty boy)"
Sero raised his eyebrows in amusement before responding back to her in their natural-born language, "Te pagaré en cumplidos, preciosa. (I'll pay you in compliments, gorgeous)"
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she threw her head back, laughing. Kirishima and Ochaco shared a puzzled look, an awkward smile on both of their faces. Costa noticed how lost they looked and changed the subject, "So watcha coming up here for?"
Ochaco's face morphed into realization as if she just remembered her purpose for being there in the first place, "Oh right! Iida sent me to fetch you three, dinner is about ready."
The three of them perked up at the mention of food, getting to their feet almost instantly. Ochaco giggled as Kirishima's stomach growled and he threw a hand over his abdomen, cheeks heating up sheepishly.
"Thank goodness! I'm starving!"
+
Koda, Shoji, and Midoriya were in charge of the cooking while Iida had talked them through the recipe. Costa had let it slip that she loved a good, home-cooked miso soup and the class took turns playing rock, paper, scissors on who'd cook for the rest of the class.
So, the three boys had miraculously whipped up Miso Soup with rice and some questionable-looking tempura as an appetizer. They watched her like hawks as she took the first bite of the tempura and struggled not to make a sour face.
"Wow this...", she chewed slowly, ".. belongs on kitchen nightmares."
The whole class laughed at the joke and they tried not to look too embarrassed by it. Nonetheless, she thanked them and ate the miso soup which was fairly decent for three teenage boys who couldn't really cook. The table was alive in chatter, sharing horror stories from hero-training, talking about upcoming quizzes, and asking Costa random questions.
She dodged all of the personal ones, usually having to do with family, easily changing the subject or giving vague answers. Nobody questioned it, in fact nobody really noticed that she avoided the subject at all.
Most everybody anyway.
Bakugou narrowed his gaze on her each time she did it, turning the question around or finding her way out of answering. She had a relaxed look on her face whenever she was engaging in conversation but occasionally, when she thought no one was looking, her facade would slip for just a second.
For just a second, he noticed the discomfort and distress on her delicate face.
He didn't say anything, only observed her for the entirety of dinner while slurping on his mediocre soup, thankful they were on opposite ends of the table so she wouldn't notice he was watching her closely.
When dinner was over, some of their classmates volunteered to clear the plates and Sato brought out his freshly baked cookies. He put extra on Costa's plate, his cheeks tainted pink. She shot him a playful wink and squeezed his shoulder fondly. The pink taint spread throughout his face until he was beet red.
Bakugou scowled, dropping his cookie on his plate distastefully. Costa flicked her eyes over at him for the first time that evening, her golden gaze making him feel uneasy. He refused to meet her gaze, taking a gulp of milk and glancing anywhere but her.
But she wouldn't let up, even as her classmates spoke to her and she happily ate her cookies, he could still feel her staring at him. A light sweat broke out on the back of his neck, causing him to curse silently, grabbing his collar to fan himself.
When dessert was over, most of the class moved into the commons area to hang out while Bakugou headed for the stairs, ready to turn in for the night. Costa had excused herself to go to the ladies room just a couple of minutes prior.
He was holding his school jacket in his hand, cursing at the ripped sleeve and not paying attention to anything as he walked across the common area. A flash of white in his peripheral vision had his gaze snapping upward to see Costa ascending the staircase slowly, her eyes fixed on the jacket in his hands.
He stopped in his tracks, looking up at her with a permanent glare on his face. She'd changed out of her school clothes into lounge attire. A cropped, black tank top fitted against her upper body while high-waisted black biker shorts hugged her lower curves, a baggy, gray, zip-up hoodie falling loosely around her shoulders. Her platnium curls fell over her collarbones and cascaded down her back, wisps of curly baby hairs framing her face.
She parted her plush, pink lips slightly, eyes flickering up to his own and then back down to the jacket in his hands. While she looked down, he stole a glance at those lips that twisted slightly to the side in contemplation. When her golden gaze turned its attention back to him, he swore his eyes had never reverted from something so fast.
"I could fix that for you", she spoke up, one hand on the railing as she shifted her weight to one leg, bringing her other hand up to rest on her left hip. Her gaze was neutral, not taunting or condescending but also not showing any hint of fondness that she'd previously shown with his "friends".
"No", he spat out harshly.
"My mother taught me how to sew when I was like six and it's come in handy every now and then. It's an easy fix", she ignored his protest, sticking her hand out toward him. He glared down at her hand that extended for him to hand the jacket over. Her blank expression never faltered. When he didn't hand her the jacket and kept glaring at her, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You are as stubborn as my mother", she said, a hint of a genuine smile on her lips. Then- there it was. The flash of pain on her face, only for a second. Then back to the look of neutrality. Bakugou nearly flinched as he noticed it, bright as day. She removed her fingers from the bridge of her nose, letting her arm fall to her side, "Just let me fix it."
"You're not touching my damn jacket", he said, turning away from her slightly. Her eyes narrowed at him in annoyance and her fingers curled into a fist. She placed that fist back on her hip.
"Why must you argue with me so much?", she said with an exasperated breath, "Just give me the jacket."
"Why", it was more of a demand than a question. She blinked at him.
"Why? What do you mean 'why'?", her golden eyes narrowed into slits and she took a step down the staircase, landing on the final step. Bakugou was only about two feet away but he didn't back down, continuing his eternal glare.
"Why do you want to fix my shitty jacket so much?!", he raised his voice, flailing his jacket in the air, "I told you I want nothing to do with you."
"Okay and what does that have to do with me sewing your jacket?", she scoffed at him, growing more and more irritated the deeper they'd gotten into the pointless argument, "Lend me the jacket. I'll sew it up and leave it by your door. You won't even have to see me. Done. Easy."
"Because I don't want nobody's like you touching my belongings", he said maliciously, oh-so-obviously trying to hurt her feelings. She cocked her head to the side slightly. "Do you like saying these things that much?", she crossed her arms over her chest, "Do you enjoy hurting people's feelings? Huh?"
He growled.
"Only fake, annoying, brats who obviously have some pathetic form of daddy issues", he spat back at her. Her facial expression faltered for a second. He could see the pang of hurt and shock flash through her eyes for a second.
It's only ever for a second. Then it vanishes.
But this time, instead of neutrality, her facial expression morphed into a cold, nasty glare that caused shivers to run up his spine. God, she could be really scary-looking when she wanted to be. Costa took the final step down, coming face-to-face with her new rival.
He knew he'd hit her hard enough with his words to make her angry. And when Costa was angry, she always said the most hurtful things. This was no exception.
"You...", she started, glancing at him with such a disgusted look on her face, "...will never be a hero like this. All you're good for is hurting people."
His blood chilled. Right when he thought she couldn't say anything crueler to him, she did. His muscles started to shake in anger as he stared down into her cold, emotionless eyes. She didn't spare him a second glance before walking past him, knocking her shoulder into his.
She always hit him just as hard as he hit her, in combat and in words.
He'd never realized the power words held until that very moment, remembering how deeply the things she'd said had affected him the other day. How they were affecting him now as he barely contained his rage.
He turned over his shoulder with gritted teeth, watching Costa's previous steely glare turn into a fake smile as she joined the rest of the group, plopping down in between Kaminari and Mina who were playing an intense game of chopsticks.
Bakugou was speechless, had been left speechless multiple times in just a week and a half by some dumb girl. He hadn't realized what making her his enemy would do, how brutal she could be as a rival. How much damage she could do to his self-image.
You will never be a hero-
His breathing became shallow as he stormed up the stairs, taking them two at a time and not stopping for a breather. His entire body was shaking now and he couldn't help the pained expression morphing onto his face as he barged into his dorm room, slamming the door behind him.
All you're good for is hurting people.
The insecurities that fed on him every day amplified.
Right as he sank to his floor, head in his hands, Costa looked back at the staircase, feeling even more guilty than the other times she'd tried him. He just didn't know when to quit, she never intended to be mean but he always brought that side out of her.
She thought about the words she'd said. About how hypocritical she'd sounded as she chewed on her lower lip.
'Maybe he just brings out the worst in me', she thought, biting her lip and ignoring the conversations happening around the common area. She couldn't pay attention, her mind stuck on that encounter. She'd just intended to help him out and maybe make amends for being a stone-cold bitch but she just ended up making it worst. Like she always did.
Shocker.
She sighed through her nose, upset with herself for how she handled the situation. Even though he deserved it, totally deserved it for bringing her family into it. Of course, it struck a nerve, he knew it would.
'But maybe if he actually knew why it struck a nerve, he wouldn't have said it in the first place', she thought.
"Hey, you okay?", Kaminari asked, placing his arm around the back of the couch behind her. She didn't notice, too lost in her own thoughts.
"Yeah, just tired", she said with a small smile of appreciation for his concern. He hummed in understanding, his fingers itching to playing with her hair as he shifted a little closer to her. His eyes raked over every single one of her facial features as she started to space out again.
'So beautiful...', he thought.
His knuckle brushed up against her cheekbone lightly and she snapped out of whatever she was thinking about. He pulled his hand away and cleared his throat in embarrassment. She simply smiled awkwardly at him, pretending not to notice what just happened.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed", she stood up just as Todoroki, who was sitting on the other side of the room got to his feet, "Thank you guys for dinner, cookies, everything. I appreciate the welcome party."
Everyone responded with 'you're welcomes' and 'no problems' before wishing her and Todoroki a good night. Kaminari sent her a sly look before a flirty grin took over his face, "Get some good sleep, Miriara. Don't dream of me too much."
She rolled her eyes, "Won't count on it."
Then her and Todoroki walked back to the elevators together in silence. The sound of chatter slowly faded away the farther they walked until they were standing right at the elevator. Todoroki softly pressed the button and stepped back beside her.
She side-eyed him, not having thoroughly examined him before. He was always in class and was very noticeable for numerous reasons but the two had never really crossed paths before. He tended to keep to himself and if not, he hung around Midoriya and Iida, who he'd seemed to warm up to in the past few months.
She knew who he was, given who his family was and his performance at the sports festival last year. Although she didn't see it, the girls in her class the year before were talking about him for MONTHS. It was all 'Todoroki is so handsome' this and 'I want to marry a pro who looks like Todoroki' that. Sometimes, they'd mention how powerful his quirk was but really they were just infatuated with the sight of him.
They weren't wrong of course. He was rather striking. His scar made the blue in his left eye pop, adding a uniqueness to him that she'd never really seen before in a boy. His facial features were pleasant and the way his two-toned hair fell over his eyes added a mysterious kind of ambiance to him. Not to mention he'd grown quite tall since his first year and had a fairly muscular build. Not as bulky as Iida or the demon-spawn she kept interacting with, but just as nice.
He noticed her attention on him as the doors opened, brown and blue eyes meeting her gold ones. She smiled softly at him before stepping into the elevator. The other girls in their grade would blush and look away if caught staring, but she didn't seem all that bothered with him catching her at all.
She kept looking at him anyway.
He let her, stepping into the elevator next to her in silence. He clicked the button to his floor before turning to her, a questioning look in his eyes. She leaned forward, getting close enough for him to get a whiff of her natural scent and pressed her floor number as well.
'Cocoa butter and vanilla', he noted in his head, blinking a few times in a row. When she pulled back to where she was previously standing, she peered up at him through her long eyelashes, "Sick scar."
He was taken aback as her sweet, slightly raspy, voice filled the elevator like the ring of harp string. He didn't look back at her as he responded blankly, "No. It's not."
Costa looked at him with that same neutral expression she gave Bakugou, except this time in a way that seemed like she was assessing him. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, his ears filling with silence, other the whizz of the elevator vibrating softly against both of their eardrums. Costa made a soft hum sound before she started moving.
He couldn't help but side-glance at her as he saw her movement in his peripheral vision. What he did not expect was to see Costa pulling the front of her shirt up, causing him to revert his gaze immediately, "What are you doing."
She chuckled at his panicked reaction, turning her body toward him, "Relax, I'm not flashing you."
He visibly softened a bit before slowly turning his gaze back over to her. His eyes met her soft golden ones before flickering down to what she was trying to show him. A thin, white scar wrapped around the lower part of her ribcage, dipping up into her black sports bra where it likely ended at her lower breast.
The bare skin on her stomach was a bit lighter than the rest of her but looked even smoother, the scar like a white river flowing across the toned muscles of her abdomen hidden by a thin layer of caramel skin covering her protruding rib cage.
He gulped, eyes glued to that long, white scar. He found himself yearning to trace it with his index finger, puzzling him completely.
She looked down at it briefly before peering up at him, "See. I have one too."
"How'd you get it?", the words escaped his lips before he could even think them. He instantly regretted asking it, knowing it was none of his business. Her lips curved into a sly grin as she tugged her shirt back down.
"How'd you get yours?", she asked in mock innocence, crossing her arms over her now covered waist. He still felt confused as his eyes kept flickering down to the place where her scar was, even as the tight black clothing remained covering it.
He didn't answer her question, only looked back into her eyes blankly.
She smirked, "Touche."
Then the elevator dinged, snapping Todoroki out of his stupous daze that Costa had put him in without even trying. She turned tossed her curly, light locks over her shoulder before looking back at him. A small, flirtatious smile played on her lips as she left the elevator, "Goodnight Todoroki."
Her eyes raked over his entire body for a split second, causing him to internally shudder, before she winked and was gone. Todoroki stood there with a puzzled expression on his face, the image of Costa's scar and her golden eyes peering up at him through those thick eyelashes branded into his mind.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated with how he was reacting to the whole encounter. After he got off on his floor, he headed straight to the bathrooms to take a nice, long, cold shower and then turn in for the night.