"So, you really think the recent events require such drastic measures?" asked Aya. "Moving to an all-dorm system is a big change."
"You are correct." replied Aizawa. "But we made this decision after careful evaluation and we are putting the safety of our students in the forefront."
The two U.A. teachers, All Might and Aizawa, had been tasked with visiting the families of all first year students to announce their decision to become a boarding school. Since the many villains attacks, they thought it would be safer to keep the students together and protected on school grounds, in order to avoid anyone else getting hurt.
"I trust your decision, Shota. If you believe it is what's best for our daughter." said Aoshi, who used to work in the same agency as Aizawa when they were young. "As long Shiori's okay with this."
"I am, dad." said the girl, who was sitting beside her parents on the couch. "If anything, we'll become better heroes by being able to train more."
"We really appreciate your understanding, Mr. and Ms. Himura." said the teachers, bowing.
A few minutes later, Shiori was leading them to the door, when All Might turned towards her.
"Young Himura, I was actually hoping to get your advice on something." he said.
"My advice?" she asked, confused. "Uh, of course, sir."
"We will be visiting young Bakugo's family next, and well..."
Shiori chuckled. "Yeah, I understand. Well, sir, you have nothing to worry about. His parents are wonderful people. You might want to prepare yourself, though."
"Oh?"
"They can be a little... explosive." she smiled, as a single drop of sweat ran down her forehead.
---
When Aizawa and All Might made it to the Bakugo residence, they found themselves frozen awkwardly in the presence of their dysfunctionality.
"Oh, sure!" said Mitsuki, slapping Katsuki head. "I'm counting on you!"
"Don't hit me, old hag!" complained the boy. "I'll kill you!"
"Shut up!" she growled, hitting him again. "It's your fault to begin with for being so weak! You got caught and now you're causing everyone trouble!"
"You two... stop it..." said Masaru, hopelessly. "You're startling the teachers."
"Shut up, damn old man! Don't butt in!" yelled Katsuki.
"You're the one who should shut up!" said Mitsuki. "If you're gonna talk, then speak clearly!"
"Um, is it really all right?" asked Aizawa, awkwardly.
"Huh?" asked Mitsuki. "Oh, the dorm, right? We'd actually be grateful. Katsuki's reckless and really good at everything, and he was blessed with a good Quirk, too, so he had other people fawning over him all the time and eded up like this. He kept getting praised for shallow stuff. That's why I was really happy to hear what you said at the press conference. It made me think that this school is watching him carefully. I was worried for a while and wasn't sure how it would turn out, but he's back safe and sound now, so..."
Mitsuki rubbed her son's head, while he pouted angrily.
"You might face some harsh criticism for a while, but I trust you guys and leave him to you." she continued, turning to her husband. "Right? He's a hopeless guy, but please train him hard and make him a good hero."
As the teachers made their wait out of the house, Katsuki came outside to meet them at the gates.
"All Might." he called.
"Hm?"
"What is Deku to you?" Katsuki asked, in a serious tone.
"He's my student." replied All Might. "Just like you. A future hero with bright prospects."
Then, Mitsuki's voice sounded from inside the house:
"Katsuki! The police said not to go outside!"
"I see." said Bakugo, turning around to go back inside. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Thanks."
"KATSUKI!" yelled Mitsuki, once more.
"I know!" the boy barked back.
---
Move-in day was on a Friday, so that the students could have the weekend to settle in.
Principal Nezu was speaking to Aizawa in front of the new dorm buildings, when the sounds of laughter and chatter began to sound from the street.
"Ugh, what's that horrible sound?" asked Principal Nezu.
"Children." muttered Aizawa.
"Well, that's my queue." the principal turned and walked away, leaving Eraser Head to deal with the students by himself.
When class 1-A arrived at the front of their new home, Aizawa was waiting for them.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. For now, I'm just glad we were able to bring Class 1-A back together again." he said.
"Everyone was allowed to move to the dorms, huh?" said Sero, smiling.
"Well, it was a pain to convince my parents, but I'm glad everyone made it." said Jiro.
"Now, I'll explain briefly about the dorms, but first-- For now, we will focus on getting the provisional licenses we were planning to have you get during training camp." continued the teacher.
"Oh yeah, they did talk about that." said Sato, pensively.
"So much happened that I kind of forgot about it." admitted Ashido.
"This is important. Listen up." said Aizawa. "Kirishima, Himura, Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida. These five went to go save Bakugo that night."
The entire glass froze, and the tension could have been cut with a knife.
"Your reactions tell me that you were all at least aware of it." Aizawa frowned. "I'm going to set aside a number of issues to say this: if it weren't for All Might's retirement, I would expelled everyone except Bakugo, Jiro and Hagakure."
Shiori inhaled sharply, feeling guilt wash over her.
"Of course the five that went, but also everyone who knew but didn't stop them, betrayed our trust, no matter the reason. I would be grateful if you could follow the proper procedures and act properly in order to regain that trust. That is all. Now we're going inside."
The teacher walked into the dorms, leaving every one outside looking bummed out.
Bakugo looked over at Shiori, who had her head down. She looked sad and ashamed, and he hated seeing her that way.
Suddenly, he grabbed the back of Kaminari's shirt and began dragging him away. "Come here." he said.
"Huh? What? No!" complained the boy, trying to get out of his grasp.
Bakugo took him around the corner, and a few seconds later a massive flash of lighting went off.
Kaminari emerged looking like an over-boiled egg, just like he did every time he over-used his Quirk and his brain had a short-circuit.
The whole class began laughing, including Shiori.
"What? What did Bakugo do...?" chuckled Sero.
Katsuki walked off, entering the dorms, but Shiori looked at him and smiled. She knew he didn't like to show he cared about people, but she also knew that if others payed attention it would be clear to see.
---
When the class walked inside the building, they were left open-mouthed with how nice it was.
"Each building holds one class. Girls on the right, boys on the left." explained Aizawa. "But the first floor is the common area. Food, baths, and laundry are on this floor."
"Wow! This place is amazing!" said Kaminari.
"There's even a courtyard!" added Sero, looking through the tall glass windows.
"So spacious and clean!" Ashido smiled, spinning around excitedly.
"ITS LIKE A MANSION!" Uraraka said, passing out.
"Uraraka!" said Iida, concerned.
"Rooms start on the second floor." continued Aizawa, leading the students up the stairs to see a sample room. "Everyone gets their own room. They are luxurious spaces equipped with their own AC, toilets, fridges and closets."
"There's even a balcony!" Shiori commented, walking outside.
"ITS LIKE A MANSION!" repeated Uraraka, falling over again.
"Uraraka!" Iida exclaimed.
"The belongings you sent ahead have already been placed in your rooms, so unpack and get settled in today." concluded the teacher. "I will tell you more about what will happen from now on tomorrow. Dismissed!"
---
Everyone headed to their rooms to get everything ready.
Shiori put on some music and began to unpack all her things.
In the end, her room looked simply but cozy, filled with blankets, pillows and candles.
When she finished organizing, she headed out to the balcony to watch the sunset.
The breeze was nice and gentle, brushing the hair off her face.
Taking that moments gave her a chance to feel the weariness in her bones which hadn't gone away since the day Katsuki got taken from her.
While she knew things were back to normal now, it didn't quite feel the same. Bakugo had been acting more distant than ever.
He must have been dealing with so much since the abduction, and yet, his refusal to talk about it had made him even more closed off to her and the rest of the world.
Shiori was used to his spells of little contact because he was training too hard or feeling angrier than usual.
But even in those cases, Shiori had never felt distant from Katsuki - she always felt like he was just close enough for her to reach. Now, for some reason, she felt like he was slipping through her fingers.
"Kacchan, why won't you let me in..." she whispered, sighing.
—-
After dinner, everyone was hanging out in the common room, but Shiori was ready to hit the hay.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna take a nap." she said. "See you in 10 hours."'
"Wait, Shiori-chan!" said Uraraka.
"Huh?"
"You too, Todoroki, Midoriya, Kirishima, Iida. Do you guys have a minute?"
They all looked at each other, confused. Ultimately, they followed Uraraka outside.
"Uraraka, where--" but before Kirishima could finish his sentence, they noticed Asui was standing outside waiting for them.
"You see, Tsu said she had something to tell you all." explained Uraraka.
Asui took a deep breath then looked up at her friends.
"I can't help but say everything that comes to mind." she said. "But there are times when I don't know what to say. Do you remember what I said at the hospital?"
"Yeah, I remember." whispered Midoriya.
"I hardened my heart and said some painful things... Even so, you still went. When I heard about that this morning, I was shocked. I thought I'd stopped you, so I was filled with disappointment and bad feelings. I didn't know what to say... I didn't feel like I could have fun talking with everyone... " she explained, crying. "But... that made me very sad. That's why I wanted to tell you even if I couldn't gather my thought properly, so that I could have fun and talk with everyone again."
Shiori and the others listened with broken hearts, filled with guilt.
"It's not just Tsu that feels this way." added Uraraka. "Everyone felt uneasy and wanted to make that feeling go away... But let's all work together and laugh together again!"
"Tsu!" said Kirishima, as tears fell from his eyes. "I'm sorry! Thanks for telling us!" He walked forwards and gave the girl a hug. "I won't ever do it again."
Shiori then joined them in a group hug. "Me neither. I'm so sorry."
The other came forwards to apologize, and it was a relief to feel the tension being released from their bones.
----
The first Saturday in the dorms wasn't easy for Shiori. Why? Well, she really REALLY liked sleeping. It was partially because her Quirk burned a lot of energy, so when she wasn't using it, she liked keeping activity to a minimum.
However, the problem with living with 20 other teenagers was that there was very little quiet time.
Shiori was cocooned under her sheets when she felt the walls in her room shake and heard the sounds of screams and laughter coming from downstairs. She tried her best to ignore it, but covering her face with a pillow wasn't cutting it. Ultimately, she wrapped herself in a robe and headed to the common room to see what in the world was going on.
When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she saw half of the class making an absolute ruckus.
Kirishima and the 1-B student Tetsutetsu were arm wrestling while the other boys watched. Sero was bragging to Mineta about a ridiculous moustache he had been growing out. Tokoyami was trying to get back his game from Kaminari, who took it when the boy accidentally left in in the common room over night. Hagakure was watching a YouTube workout video and jumping around in neon leggings. Koda was leaning against the window, talking to a bird. And Iida was making fun of Uraraka and Asui for fan-girling over a romance TV show. In summary, they were all being unbelievably loud.
"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY STOP!" Shiori screamed. "Wherever you are right now, JUST SIT DOWN!"
Everyone in the room froze, then slowly sat down where they stood. Shiori was always quiet and relaxed, which meant that when she got angry, it was a big deal.
"Now, Saturday is a day for sleeping." she continued. "And damn it, you will not take that away from me!"
She then turned towards Kaminari. "You, give Tokoyami his game back. Finders keepers is not a thing."
"You!" she continued, pointing to Tetsutetsu. "You don't even live here! GET OUT!"
"You, you're sweating so much I can actually kinda see you!" she said, pointing at Hagakure. "Sero, get rid of the moustache, you look like a pedo. And Iida, don't act like you're better than them, your room is above mine and I can hear you crying over Korean dramas."
Finally, she turned to Koda, who was quietly sitting in a corner.
"And you... actually, you're fine." she shrugged.
"Now, go away." she concluded, grumpily sliding way in her slippers. "Because I'm having cereal."
"Her and Bakugo being friends makes a little more sense now..." whispered Tokoyami, when Shiori walked out of the room.