Koda's room was... actually kind of cute. The other girls were fangirling over his rabbit while I looked at the little stuffed animals on his bed. He even had a cat-themed alarm clock. As the others began to leave, I turned to follow.
Jumping back, I stared at the small white creature blocking my path. It twitched its nose and my body tensed. What was that supposed to mean? Was it a threat? Was it going to attack me? Were bunnies evil!?
Koda stayed behind as the others crowded into the hall and came over to pick up the bunny. Holding it in front of me, he took a small step closer. I shyly reached out my hand towards it. It flinched back at first and I jumped from the sudden movement. There was a weird tickly feeling on the tips of my fingers as it sniffed me.
I gently rubbed its head with my fingers and it shifted into my touch. Taking a small step closer, the shy boy held his pet out towards me. Shakily reaching out my hands, I lifted the bunny into my arms and just... held it. He was so soft and warm and fuzzy. Koda smiled awkwardly and went over to the door of his room. He waved for me to follow and I trailed behind him, bunny in my arms.
When we rejoined the group, everyone was crowded around the elevator and Mineta was pointing in the direction of the girls. Now, everyone was really into the whole dorm competition and we were looking at the girls' rooms? Hell fucking no. No way. Fuck that. They're not going in my room, that's for sure.
Next, was the fourth floor. For the guys, there was Kirishima, Bakugou and Shoji. Bakugou, who'd decided the whole room contest was lame, decided to return to his room to sleep. Kirishima was getting pretty tired too. At least, that's what he said. It seemed more like he was trying to skip his room.
He groaned as Ashido and Hagakure charged ahead to check it out. I chuckled softly from behind him, and Kirishima turned to send a glare in my direction. He stopped in front of the door and placed his hand on the knob.
"Just so you all know, I lost a bet with Izumi back at I-Island so she and Bakugou decorated my room how they wanted. You should come back in a week when I can change it to how I want."
The door opened, and the girls burst into laughter. The guys also poked their heads inside, glancing at the various things that were in the room. Mineta had shrieked in fear upon seeing the mature Kamui Woods body pillow laying across Kirishima's bed.
"Nice one, Izu!" Ashido held her hand in my direction as she laughed.
I stared at it for an awkward moment before slapping her hand with mine. High fives were fucking weird. And after everyone admired mine and Bakugou's decorating skills, we moved on to Shoji's room. It was... empty.
On the fifth floor, Sero's room was... very surprising. I hadn't expected anything like this from him. He was pretty good at room decoration it seemed. Everyone else was just as shocked as I was. It was just... good. I'm bad with words.
"Let's get this over with," Todoroki says as he opens the door to his dorm. "It's late."
Everyone shrieked in surprise. What the actual fuck? The room was literally built differently. What? I'm so confused. There's no way. There is no fucking way. What the actual fuck? Just... what?
"We've got these kinds of floor mats at my home. They're much more comfortable than hardwood."
"This isn't your house!" Kaminari protested.
Mineta complained, "How did you remodel this entire room in just one day!?"
"With hard work," Todoroki replies seriously.
And then, the last of the guys was Satou. The bunny in my arms twitched and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Koda was immediately at my side, gently petting the rabbit and smiling at me. Glancing down, the bunny was sniffing at my arms.
As we arrived in the last guy's room, it was revealed that he had been baking a cake. He offered pieces to everyone and I shifted my grip so that I'd be holding the bunny in one arm and my cake in the other. A part of me wanted to melt when I put the beautiful and amazing creation in my mouth.
The bunny has stood up on his hind legs, sniffing up towards the cake. I pulled off a very tiny piece and held it in front of his nose. He grabbed it with his tiny paws and rapidly ate it with tiny little bites. I left the room contently as then it was time to move on to... the girl's rooms. Fuck.
Back on the second floor, we all poked our heads into Jirou's room and damn did she have a shit ton of instruments. And she could play all of them? After a halfwitted comment from Kaminari and Aoyama, however, they were stabbed in the ear by Jirou's earphone jack and everyone was kicked out.
Hagakure's room was... really fucking pink. It was, um, actually kind of... kind of... um... cute. I was broken from my thoughts by Hagakure yelling at Mineta as he got too close to her drawers. I swear I'm gonna smack him!
Uraraka and Momo dragged me out of the room and over to the elevator. Now, we were on the 3rd floor. This was... this was my floor. Fuck.
Ashido's room was first. It was a cool design with all sorts of pink, purple and black. It was bold but cool. It wasn't really my style, but... I liked it. The girls' rooms were all nice. They had put a lot of effort into decorating them. A part of me felt embarrassed. My room barely had anything.
Uraraka's room wasn't as heavily styled as some of the other girls' rooms, but it was nice. She had a few things on the wall, and her desk and wardrobe. She had a table, and a fan — even a TV! Plus a few cute smaller things. I slipped out of the door and went next door to my room.
Todoroki, who'd been further back in the hall, glanced in my direction in confusion. Saying nothing, I opened the door to my room and stepped inside before closing it behind me. I sat on the floor right by the door, leaning against it so they wouldn't be able to enter. The bunny sat on my lap contently.
There was a push against my back as someone tried to open the door, and I heard voices from the other side. Ashido was laughing, telling me to let everyone in. Hagakure was soon joining in, and I could hear Kaminari teasing me.
"Leave her be," I recognized Todoroki's voice. "I think she was getting a bit overwhelmed. This is all new to her, remember?"
"Todoroki's right!" Midoriya piped up. "She can show us her room when she's ready."
"Are you sure you don't want to join in? It's up to you. If you want us to leave, then we will."
Knowing Uraraka's voice, I placed the bunny on the floor beside me and stood up. I cracked the door open a tiny bit. Reaching out, I grabbed Uraraka's wrist and dragged her inside before closing it again. She stared down at the rabbit on my floor, "Um... is that Koda's?"
I could feel my cheeks heating up as I scooped it into my arms, "Maybe."
"So, what's up?" she asked me.
"It's embarrassing. All I have is... is the stuff you guys got for me. I don't own anything else."
"So? This is just for fun. It doesn't matter what your room looks like in the end. Maybe someone will say something mean about it, but that's just their opinion. No matter what anyone else says, I think your room is awesome!"
I slowly nodded and reached out to open the door. I sat on my bed, the rabbit in my lap, as the class piled in. They looked around curiously to investigate the things in my room. A bunch of them were laughing, and pointing out the gifts they'd given me.
"Mineta!"
Glancing over, the idiot was looking in my closet. Hagakure had smacked him on the head and Kirishima was slamming the closet door shut before he could peak anymore.
"Snooping through a girl's things," Kirishima scolded. "Not manly at all."
"Not like there was much to see," he muttered under his breath.
"Get out," I snarled at him, and Mineta glanced up in my direction. "Get out, now!"
He was dragged from the room by Hagakure and Ashido before being thrown into the hallway. Todoroki had approached the bed and placed his hand on the blanket, recognizing it as the one he'd bought for me.
"Hey, this is the stuffed dragon I bought!" Kirishima grinned cheerfully as he picked it up from where there would normally be a pillow. I growled at him, but he paid no mind to it.
"Is this all your stuff?" Sero asked me. "What about your things from the group home?"
"I don't have anything from the group home," I snapped back. "This is all I own. You can't take stuff with you when you're always being moved around. I had some clothes at some of the teacher's houses, but I doubt they're still there."
Sero frowned, "Sorry. I didn't realize. I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's fine. Can we just... move on to the next room?"
Everyone agreed, and I took the bunny back over to Koda. He took him back with an awkward smile and everyone piled out of my room. I just went back over to the bed and sat down. Kirishima was about to leave but stopped. The others didn't notice as he lagged behind. He closed the door and turned to face me.
"Do you mind if I stay?"
I shrugged, "do what you want."
He approached slowly and sat down on the bed beside me. I reached over to grab my dragon, holding the large, stuffed animal in my lap. Glancing over to Kirishima, he was smiling at me. But the second I looked at him, he immediately turned the other way and cleared his throat. What the fuck?
"So, do you have a reason for being here or are you just... here."
He shrugged, "You're my... friend. Is that a good enough reason?"
I snorted, "Why the hesitation?"
"Uh, hesitation? W-what hesitation?"
"You've been acting so... awkward. Just chill out. We're friends, rights?"
"Yeah, friends," Kirishima choked out.
I leaned back on the bed and stared up at my ceiling with a yawn. The redhead laughed from beside me as he flopped back. He grinned as he poked at the stuffed dragon, but pulled his finger back with a yelp when I tried to bite him.
"You know what?" I sighed to myself. "You win."
"Huh?" he glanced at me in confusion.
"September 15th."
"September 15th?" he echoed in confusion. "Wait... September 15th! That's your... that's your—"
"—my birthday, just spit it out."
"No way! I can tell the others, right?"
"Whatever, but I don't like my birthday."
He sat up, "Well, why not?"
"My mother hated it," I muttered.
"Huh?"
"After my... after my father started showing up. My mother hated my birthday. She hated it because it reminded her of my father and everything she'd been through. Villains are... pretty evil. My mother never, um, well she didn't consent to me."
Kirishima paused, "Oh. Shit, I..."
"My mother was a prisoner just like I was. That's why... even after everything she's done... I still, um, I still love her. She's my mom, y' know? And I know why she can't stand me. My father was awful — to both of us. But my mother had been through a lot more than me. I know that she's done a lot of bad things, and I can't forgive her for them, but I still care about her. If she needs to keep hating me to be okay, then... then I won't stop her."
Kirishima reached out a hand suddenly and I couldn't help but flinch. He whispered a soft apology from his lips and I simply sat there. Physically, we were so close to each other. But emotionally, it felt like we were on opposite sides of the world. I wanted to... I wanted to fix this. I wanted us to be friends and understand one another. I wanted to... to let someone in for once.
"I hate my birthday because it was the hardest day of the year for her. It forced her to remember everything my father has done. She couldn't even look at me. All she'd do is lock herself in her room and cry. How can I celebrate something that made her so miserable?"
"Because she's not here anymore!" his voice was louder and harsher than I expected. "Maybe your mother can't see it but..." Kirishima glanced away from me and gently placed his hand on my leg, "you deserve to be celebrated. So... let us throw you a birthday party?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I looked in the opposite direction, "F-fine! But don't expect me to... to enjoy it!" I snapped weakly.
Kirishima grinned, "Wouldn't dream of it."