A week had passed since Rin visited Eri, and since then, Rin was kept busy with rehearsals for both the beauty contest and 1-A's concert.
She had met back up with Dante to decide on which song they would go with, and once they did, Dante helped to start Rin off on how exactly she should practice for the performance; recommending that she add an exhibition of her Quirk to add to the 'wow' factor of her entry as a whole. She agreed, and worked together with Mina to put together something simple — yet effective — for the contest.
Currently, Rin stood in the assigned building that was in use for the girls who would participate in the pageant. A large tub of salt water was placed behind her, and she hummed the tune of her song as she practiced the steps to her routine. The water she controlled bent rhythmically along with her movements, and Rin shifted in a way that made it look as if she and the water moved as one.
"Wow, your routine is coming along great, Rin!" Hado's voice sounded cheery from behind Rin, and when she turned, she saw the girl in question floating toward her in a pretty teal dress.
"You think so?" Rin returned her smile whilst bending the water back into the tub. "I'm still figuring out the steps."
"You're doing great," Hado encouraged. "I think you're gonna give me a run for my money for sure!"
"I don't know about that..." Rin was bashful as she palmed the back of her neck, and as she glanced off to the side, her eyes locked on the small body of Eri as she, Deku, and Togata entered the building. "Eri!"
Upon hearing her name, Hado turned to look over her shoulder, and used her Quirk to float over to her as she approached. Rin followed closely behind.
"Hey, hey! What's Eri doing here?" Hado asked giddily as she levitated in front of them. "Why? Why? How fun!"
"Eri!" Rin smiled widely as she knelt down in front of her. "They finally let you out of the hospital, huh?"
"Mhm," Eri hummed shyly as she placed her tiny palms in Rin's open hands. "I feel better... thanks to you."
"Midoriya and I wanted to surprise you!" Togata grinned, bending down with his hand on top of Eri's head. "And she wanted to see you perform as soon as I told her you were rehearsing today! From what we saw, it's coming along great."
"Hado is doing really well, too," Rin stood up straight with Eri holding onto Rin's leg. "We're all having a lot of fun."
"Your Quirk is flashy," Deku said, suddenly embarrassed as he looked away from Hado. "And with your looks and your b-b-bo-bo..."
"Body proportions." Togata spoke in Deku's place when he began to stutter. Rin couldn't help but frown. "Even with all that, you were still only runner-up last year?!"
"Yeah!" Hado said, thinking nothing of it as she leaned forward. "Listen to this! Are you listening? Every year, I keep losing! There's this other girl who's amazing! The beauty pageant champion... Bibimi Kenranzaki, in Support Course Class 3-G! And on top of that, Rin is competing this year too! There's an even slimmer chance of me winning!"
"You shouldn't sell yourself short, Hado." Rin said with a hand placed on her forearm.
"This years pageant also had Kendo, who gained a lot of secret fans from being in a commercial," Amajiki walked up from behind Rin and Hado. "Hado is also going all out. Just thinking of performing in front of so many people... oww... it's making my stomach hurt."
"At first, I just tried entering because Yuyu told me to," Hado floated over toward her friend with a pixie cut whom busied herself with a rack of dresses in the corner of the room. "But it's pretty fun, and I don't want to lose. That's why this year, I'm definitely going to try my best to win! It's my last chance."
"I think all you girls have a great chance at winning!" Togata said supportively with an arm hung around Rin's shoulders. "Even if I'm biased toward Rin, I wish you all the best of luck!"
"Hehe! You don't have to say that, Togata!" Hado giggled teasingly. "We all know you think little Rin is gonna win for sure!"
"Hey, c'mon! Don't put it like that!" Togata pled, sheepish.
"I just think it'll be a lot of fun..." Rin said with an absent smile.
"So sweet!" Hado gushed as she draped herself on Rin's free side whilst pressing her cheek against her's.
"We should probably let the girls get back to practicing," Deku said. "We still need to show Eri the the Support Courses."
"Oh, that's right!" Togata agreed and turned to Rin. "We've gotta get going for now, but we'll see you later!"
"We're leaving already?" Eri asked timidly from Rin's side. The grip she had on her leg tightened.
"Don't worry, Eri," Rin looked down at her whilst taking the smaller girl's hands. "I'll see you again real soon, okay? Promise."
Eri pursed her lips at her, but nodded hesitatingly anyway. "Okay."
"Have fun, fish stick," Togata pressed a farewell kiss on Rin's forehead. "See you in a few hours."
"See you," Rin rose her hand in a wave as they began to walk off. "Bye, Zuku."
"See you later, Rin!" Deku returned her wave, and just like that, he, Togata, and Eri disappeared through the open doorway.
"Hey, Rin..." Amajiki's voice pulled Rin's gaze away from where Togata had once stood to see that he had trudged up beside her. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Hm?" Rin tilted her head and shifted on her heel to face him. "About what?"
"Mirio," he said, and gestured that the two walk back toward Rin's practice station. She obliged. "I... wanted to thank you."
"Why?" Rin didn't hide her surprise.
"Given everything that's happened, with the Shie Hassaikai and Sir Nighteye's passing," Amajiki clarified. "He hasn't changed much, and he still smiles, and that's all thanks to you. So..."
"O-oh, you don't have to thank me!" Rin held her hands out in front of her, voice shaky with embarrassment. "I try my best to make sure he's okay, that's all!"
Amajiki smiled crookedly at her. "He's the sun, Rin, and you just make him shine brighter. You should give yourself more credit. I can tell you make him really happy."
His praise made Rin's face ignite in a dark shade of red, and she placed her cool palms on her burning cheeks. "I-it's nothing... really..."
"You should get back to practice," Amajiki suggested as he watched Rin implode. If Rin didn't know any better, she'd say he was amused. "Good luck in the pageant. Your dance so far is... really pretty."
Before Rin could get the chance to spontaneously combust under Amajiki's approbation, he turned and left her to wrap up her rehearsal for the day, and she watched him leave with her hands still glued to her face.
Despite being happy to know that Amajiki thought the source of Togata's happiness currently was because of her, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Being thanked for something such as that was something she didn't think she deserved, especially with how injured Togata was after Amajiki had told her to look out for him. In her mind, she had failed the both of them.
Her sharp canine grazed the bottom of her lip as she wrapped her arms around herself, and finally Rin settled with turning back to her tub. She stared at her still reflection in the water and frowned. To her, she was the last one deserving of such praise.
But instead of falling into her own head about it, Rin decided then and there that she would work to deserve that praise, and would do her best to make Togata as happy as he made her, no matter what.
__________
That night, Rin sat at her desk with earbuds in her ears. Her head slowly bopped to the arrangement Dante had created for Rin's beauty pageant entry, and she read off her lyrics to the song quietly to herself, drumming the pencil and the index finger of her free hand against the side of the desk.
During her practice time, Rin struggled as she sang to keep her Quirk from activating. Given her previous circumstances, she had never given singing without a purpose much thought, and grumbled in frustration every time she felt the pull behind her eyes when her powers started up.
She sighed for the umpteenth time that night whilst switching her music off, and as she did, a hand coming down on her shoulder made her jump right out of her seat.
"Rin," Aizawa's voice was loud in her ears when she whipped around. "I was calling you from the door and you wouldn't answer. What're you doing?"
"Oh," Rin exhaled in relief and straightened up. Aizawa still palmed her shoulder. "I was just practicing."
"Still?" Aizawa stole a glance at the alarm clock that sat on Rin's nightstand. It was nearing eleven-thirty. "Rin, you've been at this all day. You should give it a rest."
"I want it to be perfect." Rin said as she turned back to her music sheet.
Aizawa frowned at her defiance and titled his head to get a look at the side of her face. She too had a frown, and stared at the words on the page in front of her with narrowed eyes. He could tell she was tired.
"What're you singing about, anyway?" Aizawa knelt down beside her and tried to catch a glimpse at her lyrics. She quickly held the page to her chest, hiding it.
"You can't see it!" She said quickly, looking at him exasperatedly. "It's a surprise."
"A surprise?" Aizawa wasn't convinced.
"Yes," Rin nodded quickly. "For you. So you can't see or hear anything until the contest!"
Aizawa couldn't help but chuckle at her tone, and ruffled the top of her head as he stood up straight.
"If it's that important to you, then I guess I can wait," he sighed, humoring her, and she grinned. "Anyway, I was just coming up here to check on you. You've been pretty busy ever since you were released from the hospital."
"Oh, yeah," Rin said sheepishly. "I have two choreographies to memorize, and a song on top of that, too... I'm sorry."
"You're a teenage girl," Aizawa shrugged it off, understanding. "I don't expect you to be around all the time. I just want to make sure you're okay."
Rin smiled warmly at him. "I'm okay, Papa. Are you?"
"I am now," he kissed the scar on her forehead. "Now that I know you are. Don't work yourself too hard, you hear me? Get your ass to bed."
Rin giggled at his paternal care as he walked back toward the open doorway. "Goodnight."
"Sleep well, kiddo." Aizawa offered her one last smile before exiting the room, and Rin finally decided to take his advice and wrap up her activities for the day.
She slinked over to the bed and collapsed onto the mattress, and within fifteen minutes, Rin had fallen into a much needed, dreamless sleep.