"You're a ballerina?!", Sero was shocked.
"Yup, can't you see how elegant I am?"
"If your elegant I'm the fucking Queen of England!"
Lenora stopped her swinging, bowing her head toward Katsuki, "Ma'am, it's an honor!"
Kirishima stopped Katsuki from jumping on Lenora, pushing him down on the bench. Mina giggled and tried to pinch Katsuki's cheek. The boy avoided her hand, groaning.
"You can see her elegance during training," Jirou explained, "or are you too focused on looking at her boobs?"
Kaminari let out some fake coughs from behind the girl, giving her another push, "N-no, of course, no."
Sero pushed Lenora to make the swing move again, "Now that you put it this way...yes, I could actually see it."
"Dance helps in battles!", Mina crossed her legs on the bench, shoving Katsuki almost into Kirishima.
He took a sharp breath, "Soy face, come sit here, I can't stand being squeezed between these two idiots!", he ordered, standing up and making his way toward Sero and Len.
"Why me? I was having fun pushing Lenora, she can make spins even on these trembling swings!", Sero complained. Katsuki's furious eyes were enough of an answer though.
"Eh! Sero, noo, Katsuki won't push me!", Len dramatically extended her arm toward Sero, he did the same while walking back to the bench, falling on it and making both Kirishima and Mina laugh.
"Tch", was only Katsuki's reply.
Lenora winked at her friends, leaning back where Katsuki's legs were, "Poor dynamite boy, can't even push a girl on the swing properly."
That was all it took to anger Katsuki.
"I can fucking push you better than Elbow down there, damn witch!"
They watched amused at how the great Bakugou Katsuki started giving Len's back some strong push. The girl was laughing, going higher and higher, on the other swing Jirou was smiling and Kaminari took a photo of the duo that was immediately sent to the group chat.
After the café hang out, Kirishima proposed a little stop at a near park to relax a bit more together. Everyone agreed except Katsuki, so Lenora and the redhead had to pester him up so much that in the end, he agreed, yelling how much they were stupid all the way to the park.
It was already seven in the evening and the sun was slowly getting down, but the group was having a lot of fun and none seemed ready to say goodbye.
"You surely have some interesting nicknames for all of us!"
"Shut it, Racoon Eyes."
Kirishima smiled at Mina, "Yours is better than mine, though."
Denki smiled maliciously, "Well, bomb-boy, your hair, and Kirishima's kinda looks the same so it's like you're insulting yourself."
Katsuki gripped the swing's chain, stopping Lenora, "I'm gonna kill you right now, Dunce Face."
Jirou scratched her neck, "I'm starting to think you don't know our names, Bakugou."
"I don't care about your stupid names."
Everyone sighed, defeated.
"Guys, I'm very sad but I need to go home now, my mom called me three times in a row and I think she's pissed now!", Mina had a worried expression while she was checking her phone.
"It's getting late for me too, but I was having fun...", Kirishima gave her a little smile, passing a hand through his spiky hair.
"Better to head to the station then!", Sero jumped up. Kaminari stopped pushing Jirou, circling the swing and extending a hand to her.
"What are you doing?", she asked him, tilting her head.
Denki's cheeks flushed red, "Uh, helping you?"
Jirou was embarrassed too, not used to Denki's flirtatious manners. He was already taking back his hand when the girl gripped it, standing up beside him.
"Thanks."
Katsuki and Lenora were the only ones who saw the whole scene, while the others were already making their way outside the park. Jirou and Denki walked away fast, and Len giggled.
"So, are you going to help me too?", she asked her friend, her head tilted to watch him properly.
He smirked, coming in front of the girl and bending his knees, to be at her height, "Fuck no."
His hands pushed her shoulders back, making Lenora fall on her butt on the ground.
Lenora was not surprised, "You are an ass..."
A large hand appeared in her view and she stopped mid-phrase. Katsuki was making sure the swing didn't hit the girl with one hand and the other was waiting to be taken.
"Two more seconds and I leave you here."
She quickly grabbed his hand and he pull her to her feet like she weighed nothing.
"You're still an asshole."
"Yeah, and you're still a dumbass, now turn."
"Why?"
"Just turn!"
Lenora obeyed, turning her back to Katsuki. He used his hand to clean her skirt, patting it, careful to do not to touch her ass or else.
"Let's go", he surpassed her, his hands once again in his pockets.
"That was nice of you, even if it happened because of you!", Lenora walked beside him, smiling.
"The old hag wants you to come for dinner", he let out, his eyes twitching.
"And you tell me just now?!"
"Not tonight, dumbass. One day. Whenever the fuck you want."
"You don't look very happy to have me for dinner."
"I don't care."
"Oh."
They walked a bit more silence before Lenora finally caught a glimpse of Mina's hair. She was about to wave to them, but Katsuki spoke again.
"Think about dinner. She'll be...very happy."
"I wish you'll be happy too, Katsuki."
He tensed and Lenora wrapped her arm around his bicep. Katsuki looked down, seeing her bright eyes.
"I care about what you think, my dear rival."
The boy relaxed a bit under her touch, scanning her face and focusing mostly first on her stupid red cheeks, then on the scar, and lastly on the silver nose piercing.
"Just come over, witch."
She smiled, "I'll come."
"How's old man?"
Lenora stopped humming, "He's doing well, Mariko's living with Kuina now to be closer to the hospital, so I receive daily updates on Tadashi's wellbeing!"
Katsuki knotted his brows, removing one hand from the pocket, grabbing Lenora's forearm, "You're fucking alone in that house?"
"Hey, don't say it like I can't survive on my own!"
"Maybe it's because I'm right thinking it, dumbass!"
Katsuki quickly changed direction, dragging her to the opposite side of the street. They were almost at Lenora's home after riding the train with the group and jumped off at their stop alongside with Mina and Kirishima. Their paths divided almost immediately, Katsuki and Lenora directed one way and the other duo stopped at a bus stop; they had another twenty minutes before reaching their homes.
"What are you doing!", Lenora was stumbling to keep up with Katsuki's pace but the boy didn't seem ready to let her go soon.
"Shut up and walk."
Len understood where they were going when she started to recognize the neighborhood and finally Bakugou's mansion was seen at the end of the street.
Reaching the front door, Katsuki took out the keys from his pocket, angrily opened the door, and shoved Lenora inside.
Her nostrils were invaded by a delicious smell coming from the kitchen; without thinking twice she took off her shoes, leaving her nose be her guide to the kitchen.
"KATSUKI! WHAT WAS ALL THAT FUSS?", Mitsuki yelled, keeping chopping the carrots.
"Is that nabe?!"
Mitsuki almost had a heart attack hearing Lenora's sweet voice. The knife slipped off her hand and she rapidly turned, a big smile on her lips.
"Len, dearie! Oh my! I wasn't expecting you tonight!", the woman passed the kitchen's aisle, her arms already opened to welcome Lenora in them. The girl slid on the clean pavement, wrapping her arms around Mitsuki's waists.
"Look at you! So splendid!", her nose scrunched and her eyes narrowed, pointed at something behind Lenora's back, "YOU LITTLE BRAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SHE GROW UP SO BEAUTIFUL?!"
Len felt something soft hitting her ankles and still hugging Mitsuki her eyes trailed down, noticing her personal slippers she forgot to put on.
"UHU?! WHY SHOULD'VE I TOLD YOU SUCH A THING, OLD HAG!"
"Hey, you still have it! I was starting to think you burned them or something!", Len snuggled one more time on Mitsuki's shoulder and let her go, pointing at the slippers.
Mitsuki patted her head, watching her feet slip into the fuzzy purple slippers, "Oh we could never throw 'em away! Our lovely son starts screaming whenever we moved them by a single inch!"
Lenora widened her eyes, astonished, "No way!"
Katsuki was about to explode when his dad placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to avoid having to repair the roof, "Lenora! What a wonderful surprise! Your hair is always so cool! I'm kinda jealous!"
Masaru's joke made Len chuckle, "I can bleach it if you want!"
The man made his way into the kitchen, sliding an arm around his wife's waists, "What you think, honey? Purple hair would fit me?"
Mitsuki seemed really thinking about it, studying her husband's hair, "Must try to know, dear."
Lenora took a step back, overwhelmed by such a love scene.
"Stop flirting in front of me, it's disgusting", Katsuki broke the magic, pinching his nose.
Lenora elbowed him, "You heartless ass! Let them be in love!"
"What did you just call me?!"
"Your ears work, you heard me," she placed a finger on her chin, assuming a thinking position, "or maybe they don't work and that's why you scream so much..."
"HUH! SHUT YOUR MOUTH, WITCH!", his index was on her forehead, angrily rotating.
Len tried to move out of his torture, "STOP THIS, ASSHOLE!"
Mitsuki and Masaru watched the scene with smiles on their face.
"What do you think?", Masaru whispered, feeling Mitsuki giggling.
"One day they'll figure it out."
"Thank you for the dinner, Mitsuki, even if it was a bit of a last-time thing."
"Len, you're welcomed here whenever you want."
"Don't think Katsuki would agree with this."
"Ooh, he would."
After dinner, Masaru and Katsuki were designed to do cleaning duties while the women went relaxing a bit on the sofa, trying to catch up with the latest things. The last time Lenora was seen at the Bakugou was almost two years prior and Mitsuki missed her presence; she always felt like a daughter to her and Masaru, a thing that Lenora loved deeply.
"He would? Really?", Len tilted her head to the side, placing her cheek on the soft cushion.
Mitsuki pecked in the kitchen direction, making sure the boys were busy, "He cares for you. Lot. I know is a little loud brat who prefers to call you 'witch' than else, but he has a good heart. Well, not that you don't know that."
In the kitchen, Katsuki was scrubbing the plate with so much force she thought it would break while Masaru was placing them on the right shelf after drying them, shaking his head at the boy's aggressivity.
"Yeah, I know", she sighed.
"So, are you ready for the Sports Festival? What Pro you trying to impress?", Mitsuki changed the topic, making Lenora's grin wider.
"I'm so ready to kick some asses!", she raised her fist, "And...well, I have only one name I want to impress, but I think it'll be hard..."
Mitsuki raised her brows, "Impossible! Your quirk is so different from others and you can fight quite well! At least, that's what Katsuki's bruises suggest!"
Lenora let herself fall back on the couch, her legs raising to kick the air, not minding her skirt lifting since she was wearing safety shorts under it, "Thanks Mitsuki, but I'm afraid it'll take more to make Mirko notice me."
"Mirko?! The Rabbit Hero?! She's in the top 5! The girl is one of the coolest heroes out there!", Mitsuki was hyped about Lenora's choice; she knew the girl had good taste.
"I know, right? That's why I'm so unsure!"
"Oi witch, you finished talking with the hag?"
Katsuki made his way into the living room, interrupting their conversation.
"STOP CALLING ME A HAG, FOR FUCK SAKE!", Mituski tossed a pillow right at Katsuki's face but he caught it in time.
"DON'T THROW THINGS AT ME!"
Lenora stood up, moving faster around the couch and pushing Katsuki toward the stairs, "Thanks for the nice talking, Mitsuki, we'll leave you to have a nice evening without further screaming, right Katsuki?"
"STOP FUCKING PUSHING ME, YOU DUMB WITCH!"
"See? Peaceful night!"
Lenora kept pushing him until they reached his room, shoving him inside.
"Man, you're heavy!", she wiped fake sweat from her forehead, watching how muscular were Katsuki's arms under the baggy t-shirt, "How much do you lift?"
He plopped down on his gaming chair, crossing his arms, "250, what about you, witch?"
Len jumped on the bed, rolling on her back, her head on Katsuki's pillow, "150", she could see his winning smirk growing, "but over 380 with leg press."
Katsuki needed to focus to avoid his jaw dropping, "WHAT?!"
This time was her smirk on display, "Told you I was working on my kicks."
He angrily turned his head, annoyed, and Len used that moment to scan his room. It was perfectly clean as always, his trophies and medals on the highest shelf of his little bookshelf, some nerdy action figures near the few books he owed, some photos of him during sports competitions, and something Lenora wasn't expected to see.
"Hey! That's my birthday gift!", she pointed at the little keychain she personally crocheted to form a little bomb with a froggie on it. It was positioned near a little wooden box Lenora was sure she never saw.
Katsuki snapped his head to the bookshelf, realizing what she was talking about. With a fast move, he stood up, took the gift, and shoved it inside the box, closing it with a slam.
Lenora tried to do not to make everything even stranger, smiling, "I'm glad you like it."
Sighing, he pushed the box deep into the shelf and then flicked off the big lampshade, leaving them both in the dark for some seconds before setting his LEDs on the usual soft red color and sitting down on the bed beside Lenora's feet.
He didn't want to admit how tired he was; his morning started at 5 and he trained until lunch, eat, and did his damn homework and then those extras forced him out of his house until almost his usual bed time.
"Hey, if you're tired, I can go home, we don't live so far from each other", Lenora's voice was so low it was almost a whisper.
"I'm not tired."
She repressed a smile, detecting his little lie. Without thinking, Katsuki's head hit the pillow where Lenora was chilling, one arm on his eyes right above the girl's head. The last time they were that close was when during one of their last sleepovers the poor girl had a nightmare and she started crying in her sleep. Katsuki woke up by the sobs and crawled to Lenora, scooping himself on her side on the futon. He was half asleep when he did it and noticed how much they were close just in the morning, feeling a gush of embarrassment hitting him. He never knew if she realized what he did, but he was relieved it worked and she could sleep peacefully the rest of the night.
"Oh sure, why I thought you were tired when you're clearly so full of energy? Look at you! Ready to run a whole marathon!", she teased him, closing her eyes and scooping a bit closer. Now her hair was tickling Katsuki's chin.
"You can't shut up for a second, jeez."
"I'm afraid not, I kinda like the sound of my voice blabbering."
"It's annoying."
"It's not! It's sweet, low, relaxing..."
A palm was placed on her mouth; the arm previously on Katsuki's eyes was now on the pillow to keep the boy balanced and the other was on Lenora, his hand squeezing her cheeks.
Katsuki's hard scowl met Lenora's bright, goofy eyes and for only a moment his gaze softened.
"That stupid rabbit hero would be an idiot not asking for an internship with you, dumbass," he blinked, tilting his head, incapable to look away from her eyes, "you need to start to understand how strong you are. I didn't choose you as a rival because you're weak, wake up. And now, shut your mouth and let me fucking sleep, those extras drained all my damn soul with their talks."
He let go of her, rolling on the other side of the bed and closing his eyes.
Len never felt her heart beating so fast before. She was afraid it could explode.
Never once had Katsuki told her something like that and she was...so happy. So happy she could jump. But she didn't want to disturb him further; gingerly she stood up from the bed, making her way to the side of the bed where he was curled up, already asleep. She crunched down, caressing his cheek.
With a lot of courage, she leaned forward, smacking a kiss on his forehead.
"Maybe half-asleep Katsuki is my favorite side of you."
And then, with a snap of a finger, another week passed and finally it was the day they were all waiting for.
They all trained, sweat, and spat blood for this moment.
The Sports Festival was about to start.