💥💥💥💥💥
Inside the arcade; Kirishima kept peer pressuring Bakugo into playing a new game with him.
"Dude, you have to try it! Come on, please? It won't kill you; I promise! It's VR! Look at it! Please? Hey, are you listening to me?"
"I already said no, isn't it enough that you dragged me along with those idiots, in the first place?!" The blond wasn't the type to give in so easily, after all. "Why can't you just play it alone?!"
"Because!.......I already paid for two sets and we only get to have them for an hour and we're wasting time as we speak!"
"You're the real idiot, you know that?" He wanted to laugh, so to hide his expression from his friend he snatched a headset from Kirishima's hands and placed it on. "I'll try it. Just this once."
"Cool! You'll see how much fun it is when the zombies appear and then they—"
"Oooh! Is that the new game that came out last weekend?! The one with the radioactive zombies, right?! They finally plugged it in!!" Mina had caught up with the guys and tried grabbing the VR goggles from Kirishima's hand but he wouldn't let go. "Hey! Let me try!"
"No way! I purchased 60 minutes of this for me and my bro! Wait until we're done playing!"
"You can take my spot if you want." Katsuki took the headset off just to see if [____] was with Mina. "I'm tired of it already."
"But, dude, we haven't started and you said you'll play with me for an hour!"
"I say a lot of things."
"Listen, Kiri! Let's make a bet, if you win more points than me this round then next week's rounds will be on me, okay?!" The short haired girl promised and just like that, Kirishima was happy to play again.
"Deal! You guys are witnesses— Oh? Where's Todoroki and [____]?"
Mina placed a hand on her forehead, "I totally forgot to tell you two; Todoroki was being such an angel after Bakugo made [____] cry, he asked her out and she agreed and then they ditched us to go some place that's dark to make out!"
"What?!" Eijiro believed every single word; and reacted just how Mina was expecting. "She ditched us for a new boyfriend?! That sucks!"
However; what she wasn't anticipating was a response from their team leader.
"What a dumb ass girl, going after a guy like him."
Watching her classmate get upset brought some sort of joy to her. "I'm kidding, you guys! She went shopping for school supplies but Todoroki did offer to go with her, so...I wouldn't worry much since she has that big bodyguard next to her. I doubt Todoroki is the type to make a move like that, anyway...They just met."
"Yeah, he's not that kind of guy so there's no need to worry about it, Bakugo!" His best friend reassured.
"I'm not worried for shit!!"
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Needless to say, [____] was used to entering girly stores by herself or with her family; but she never imagined she would walk inside a Sanrio shop with a male classmate. "Why this place?"
"I don't know." Todoroki truthfully answered. "I thought you might like it better than the usual craft or big chain retailers...You don't like it?"
"I do. It just wouldn't be my first choice for stationery...but it won't hurt to take a look, I guess..."
Taking her comment as a form of consent, Todoroki nodded once. They walked deeper into the shop to look for school supplies.
'Is he always this thoughtful towards others, too? I hope I'm not over thinking this, but...I wonder if we look like we're on a date."
💥🌸💥🌸💥
'Maybe not...'
She imagined the guy would be accompanying her in every route she'd take but he separated himself from her and her bodyguard not long after entering a different outlet. "I'll just quickly get what I need from here and go search for him!"
Moments later, [____] stumbled upon a few phone straps in the misc area of the store. "Ah! They sell emoji ones, how cute!"
She closed her eyes before picking up a random one to take home, but soon dropped it after seeing it. "The explosion one?! No!"
'I wanted the pink flower...' She sighed, searching hard for it in boxes of mixed accessories. 'Oh! Found one! But it's dirty....'
After trying to clean the dark smudge off the rubber product but seeing no results; she finally gave up. "I can't even find another type of flower on here...I'll just take the first one I grabbed..Maybe Katsuki will like it..."
'After all, we're friends now.'
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
She picked up some pens, pencils, erasers and sticky notes. When she reached the notebooks and paper aisle, she bumped into Todoroki again. "Hey...Were you here this whole time?"
"Yeah."
'He looks lost, somehow...' She watched him stare at the couple of notepads he was holding onto. 'The stuff he's picking up seem very girly and not like his style...I wonder if he has a secret girlfriend and he's trying to shop for her or something...'
"I'm ready to pay so I'll be heading to the cash register, okay?"
"[____]." He called her name. "What do you think of these?"
"The notepads?" She contemplated all her choices until finding the ones that stood out the most. "These are cute."
"Flowers?"
"Yeah, but not just any flowers. These are hydrangeas; the pink one symbolizes true, joyful emotions and the blue ones mean apologies and sometimes it could represent cold forecasts."
"What about the white?" He had another flower-themed item on the basket that he revealed behind him; it was full of cute products.
[____] could swore she saw another phone accessory in there, much like the one she was searching for earlier. "White hydrangeas symbolize bragging or boasting thoughts....Are you getting all of that stuff, Todoroki?"
"White is for someone like Bakugo, then." He affirmed, taking it out of the receptacle and replacing it with the two notepads she had chosen. "Yeah, it'll be a gift to someone dear to me."
'So I was right...I guess I shouldn't ask if I could get that strap after all...He probably picked it specifically for his girlfriend.'
[____] bit her bottom lip while wondering if she could find it online, instead. 'I guess I can purchase it when I get home...'
"[____], do you study flowers?"
"No." She got a little embarrassed since she didn't want people to think she was some sort of nerd when it comes down to a boring subject. "When I was a little kid my mom was always at work and so was my dad, but he would take me with him 'cause he worked with my grandparents in their farm.
My grandmother can exhale pure oxygen as her quirk; so she used that power to tend her crops and make them grow better, organically.
But her favorite part of the entire job was caring for the flower fields. I would spend most of my time in there with her...I used to listen to her talk about the history of flowers and the meanings behind each one...I guess I became interested in it as well."
After reminiscing for a little while, [____] snapped back to reality. "Sorry I kept on blabbing on, I guess it would of been easier for me to just say 'yeah' instead of talking this much; Right?"
"Not really." Todoroki grabbed the basket that was close to her feet alongside his own, then began walking to the cash register area. "I enjoyed your story."
🌸🌸🌸🌸
After the shopping trip was over, they finally made it to the front of the arcade, where Mina had asked them to meet.
"Thanks for paying for my items...You really didn't have to do that, though..." She kindly smiled at his generosity. "I already owe you a drink, as it is."
"[____], could you show me your hand?" He pulled out an item from his paper shopping bag and placed it on the girl's palm. "I thought you might like this."
"It's a flower pen...and it's so pretty..."
"It's a small 'thank you' for helping me out today." He didn't think much about it, but [____] was struggling to remain calm; It was the first time a boy had gifted her anything. "I have to leave now, but can you tell the rest I said 'see you tomorrow'?"
"Sure."
💥💥💥💥
'Todoroki sure is mysterious...When you look at him, you never know what he's thinking of and it's a little off putting...'
She reached the inside of the dark arcade and spotted her team leader sitting in a lounge chair, browsing on his phone.
'With Katsuki, I feel like all he thinks about is how to piss off the next person that talks to him...'
[____] sat down one seat away from him without saying a word.
"Why the fuck did you come here, for?" Bakugo recognized the girl without having to look up from his screen though it was only because of the well-built man that was standing right by them. "Shouldn't you be with that half-and-half freak?"
"Didn't we all decide to meet down here?...Also, he had to go home and he asked me to tell everyone that he will see us at school tomorrow."
"So now you're passing on his messages like some kind of trained bitch?"
"What's your problem?!" [____] wasn't expecting such a crude insult from him at all; she figured perhaps he was genuinely angry at her for some unknown reason. "That was a terrible thing to call me— I thought we gained some sort of mutual respect since you wanted me to join your team."
"I changed my mind about that." He declared, then laughed at her words. "'Mutual respect' my ass. Who do you think I am? Am I like the rest of them?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but you can't just take it back! I was actually looking forward to it!"
"I can do whatever the fuck I want!"
"So can I! And I decline!"
"You, what?!"
"I reject your rejection." She repeated, finally calming herself down after the hasty argument. "Thanks for inviting me to your group, Katsuki. I'm going to try my best from now on!"
"Not with my team; you're not!" He emitted his quirk from one hand, attempting to scare her off.
"You're a threat to miss [____]." Her bodyguard's arms instantaneously morphed into the shape of sharp scissors from each side. "I will cut you into pieces if you try to hurt her."
"You think I'm scared of you, muscle head?! I'll burn this place to the ground if I have to first—! Eh?" The angry blond noticed a portal appearing underneath the man with no name. He watched as [____] made her mother's employee disappear to the ground using her quirk.
"Jeez, I was trying to avoid doing that all day...He's gonna call my mom and she is gonna kill me when I get home..." She sighed. "But I can't have anymore fights, Katsuki. Can't we just get along?"
"You fucking wish." He fired a small explosion at her shopping bag out of spite, it burnt the bottom part of the paper, and allowed her stuff to fall all over the floor.
He watched [____] panic as she picked everything up. Whatever was made of wood pulp was turned to ashes, but some products were still intact. Although they were hot to the touch. "My stuff! I needed all of these!"
"I'll burn your hair off, too, like I did with your old man if you don't leave my sight."
One of the workers on the arcade arrived a little too late to stop the commotion. "No destructive quirks allowed in the area, why don't you and your girlfriend talk it out someplace else or I'll call the police!"
"What did you say?!"
'Girlfriend?!' [____] was too focused on that word to continue blowing her fingertips. 'Do we seriously look like some sort of couple, arguing this badly?'
💥💥💥💥
"Not again, Bakugo!" Mina whined as the four students were escorted out of the building after their leader had a dispute with the mall officers. "We're always getting kicked out of places 'cause of you!"
[____] was marked down as the victim, they asked her if she was in danger and then she had to file a report before asking if her classmates could be set free to leave.
"Whatever, this mall sucks anyway." Bakugo felt no remorse for getting his friends on the 'not allowed inside the premises' list for a while. Placing his hands on the back of his neck, he started walking to the train station. "Let's go before we miss the last train."
"It's getting this late, huh?" [____] remembered that she had one last thing to buy. Because she wasn't planning on coming back to the same mall after her friends weren't allowed to come in, she figured she could run back in that moment to buy it. "Is it cool if you guys go without me? I have to buy a new brand of lipgloss."
"What's wrong with the one you're using now?" Mina knew all about makeup; it was one of her favorite subjects to talk about with other girls. "Is it drying out your lips?! Because if so, I read an article on how to fix that! Or is it not your color? You have such a nice skin tone, I bet any color would look good on you, though! Do you usually buy tinted lip gloss or clear lip gloss?!"
"Nothing is wrong with it...I just ran out!" [____] wasn't expecting to be asked so many questions about it.
But Kirishima continued with the interrogation, "Wait...you just said you needed to buy a new brand and now you're saying that you ran out, so are you buying the same brand or not?"
"Who gives a shit about this? Let her go." Katsuki knew the whole reason why she wanted to purchase new makeup. His comment from earlier obviously had something to do with it but it's not like he cared enough to be flattered by her actions. "She has two working feet, she can get home on her own."
"But we can't let a girl walk alone during night time, it's not the manly thing to do."
"What are you talking about? We let raccoon eyes go home alone all the time. Even later than right now!"
"Yeah and I keep telling you guys, it's rude to not even walk me halfway!" Mina frowned about it. "Kirishima is right, we should at least wait for her. It's better to leave in a group especially with villains running around at this hour."
Katsuki clicked his tongue, "She can call another security guard or even transport herself home, she'll be fine."
'I can't use my quirk like that, though...I need to know the exact location, I don't even know my address, yet. It all depends on the distance, too!' [____] knew if she said something like that, it would just cause another unneeded argument between the two of them. 'What a jerk! I can't believe I let this guy be my first kiss!"
"He's right! I can always call a cab or something to head home. So it's okay, really..." [____] was angry already, the last thing she wanted was to see Bakugo's face for the rest of the night.
"[____], I would stay with you but if I don't go home soon I will get grounded and won't have an allowance for weeks..." Mina's priority was to get money to buy more clothes, she couldn't let anybody know that though. Specifically Kirishima; who she owed after their game tournament. "Will you forgive me?"
"It's fine. Like I said, I'll go home on my own. Please don't worry about me."
Kirishima looked at Bakugo, then at his new classmate and Mina, unsure of which side he could pick. "[____]...will you really be okay?"
She nodded. "Trust me, I understand you guys have to go."
"I feel bad...leaving you alone like this, but let's exchange emails just in case you ever need help and your parents or body guards won't answer." He pulled out his cell phone and she did the same to send each-other their contact information.
"Thank you, Kirishima."
"You can also text or call me if you ever wanna hang out or just to chat, you know!" With that parting message, [____] watched the three friends disappear.
'I'm alone, again...'
💥💥💥💥💥
"Mina messaged me." Kirishima showed Bakugo his phone as they leaned against a concrete wall by the train station.
Katsuki bought two bottles of water from a nearby machine and practically finished one in a matter of seconds.
Then he listened as his best friend read his reply out loud.
"You didn't have to give her your email." Katsuki casually mentioned as he crushed up the empty bottle single-handedly. "You're gonna see her in class practically everyday from now on."
"You're talking about [____]?" It took Eijiro a while to think of an answer. "True...but having more girls on my contact list always makes me feel more needed, somehow! You don't feel the same?"
"That's the dumbest shit I ever heard." He belittled the thought of texting someone from the opposite gender. The only girl he had on his email account was his mother, and he never bothered on replying back to her pointless messages. "Who needs girls, anyway..."
"I'm sure if you ask that to your mom or dad they will list ten million reasons why you need girls in your life."
"Not if all they do is cry and flirt with others."
Kirishima stopped smiling for a second, just to study his friend's expression. "Well then....maybe you just haven't met the right girl who will make you think differently.
Actually, you know what's my thought? Maybe, deep down you feel the opposite of what you say and you're actually dying to be in a relationship with someone who loves you and appreciates you completely because it makes you feel better about yourself since you could be a very shitty person in the eyes of a lot of people and that can make anybody feel insecure."
Katsuki faced him for a moment, resisting the urge to burn his cell phone for his discredit. "...Nah."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Kirishima shrugged going back to texting Mina. "Oh? Where are you going? Our train is almost here."
"I'm tired of waiting, I'm walking home tonight." He threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin before actually leaving. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ok, I guess? Be safe out there! Text me when you get home!"
He brushed his hand back and forth a few times, not looking back. "Yeah, yeah."
"I thought he bought that other water bottle for me..."
💥🌸💥🌸💥
[an: yaaaaaay finally 1k likes! You guys are awesome sauce 😁 thank you for reading and commenting and liking! I hope you have a great day!!
also Todoroki be like 🥶🥵]