"Wait, they left?"
"Yeah..." a rather upset Mina moaned after receiving a rushed text from their red headed friend about some sort of stomach pain, "god, that stinks. I miss my blasty boy."
"Yeah, he seemed so upset. But, I mean, can you blame him," the floating dress muffled a response. She'd been the last one in, "I don't think they noticed I was still out there. Ahgh, I feel bad for eavesdropping now..."
"I too feel as if I didn't respond as I should have," Iida muffled in a polite, yet pained manner while he removed the pair of glasses from his face in order to clean them, "I don't think any of us did."
Silence fell for a moment or two, but only a moment or two, as Midoriya didn't hesitate to speak his mind, "I agree, but I mean," the boy's voice filled with worry, "I don't understand why Kirishima didn't say anything. Why they kept it so hidden that he was injured. I don't get it. They know we're here to support them no matter what, right?"
Silence once more, before Todoroki, who'd hadn't said a word since he'd arrived, answered the new, number one hero, "well, Kirishima does, I'd assume. But you know Bakugo. He's never been one to trust others."
Another who'd stayed silent made their voice heard. A shy croak came from behind the half and half boy, which made the lot turn towards their petite, frog friend, "plus he mentioned the villains. They targeted him before. Multiple times, actually. He never mentioned it publicly, but we worked together on a case back a year or so ago, and he said something about them keeping tabs on him; they're petty, and hate that he said no, I think? Anyway, I'd wanna go into hiding if something like that happened to me, too. Especially in those circumstances."
"I guess I never thought of it that way," Midoriya thought once more, and brought his hand up to cover his mouth in a thoughtful manner, "It makes sense though. I just wish there was something I could do to help."
"Yeah," Tsu croaked once more, and sunk into a nearby chair, "I know he'd do the same."
A, surprisingly, much changed Mineta spoke in a confident, and incredible smooth manner. The way he stood made it incredibly obvious that he had been attempting to show off his newfound height, and good looks to the others, "would he though? I know y'all think he's all secretly nice. But let's face it, he's always been really rude to all of you. Like, sure, I wasn't great either. I was nasty, and I'll be the first to admit it. But he was rude, and scary," one of the violet balls was unstuck from the top of his head, and tossed up, and around in the air as a way to pass time, and keep his hands occupied, "he doesn't care about any of us. I mean, he didn't even bother to say anything. He just cut us all off. That says a lot."
A few kept silent; the same ones that refused to talk to the blonde, out of fear, or something else back when they were teens; but the majority denied the grape quirk users claims; including a huffy Kaminari, "okay, listen dude. Yeah, sure he's rude. But you have no place to judge. You didn't know him."
"Fair. But from an outsider's perspective, he didn't care at all. Just my opinion," the ball he'd been tossing was shot across the room, basketball style, into a small trash can, before he slouched himself in a chair as well.
The lot bit their tongues, and decided to move on, rather than argue. The majority took their seats, while an attemptedly calm Mina slipped a phone out, "I'm gonna call Kiri. I feel bad."
"I wanna talk too," the floating dress planted herself into Mina's shoulder as if they were conjoined twins, which got her quite a few confused eyebrow raises from the others.
"What? I never got to be friends with him, and I feel left out!"
The pink haired girl simply rolled those black eyes of hers, before tapping that green call button.
Their anxiety peaked as the rings continued one after the other, until a rough, yet upbeat voice answered.
[ "Hello?" ]
***
"Don't answer..."
"I don't want it to seem like we're ignoring them, though," the ring of the phone all vibrated the speakers of their car; and against his husband's pleading wishes, Kirishima answered, and responded promptly, "hello?"
[ "You can't just fall off the face of the earth, then show up, and not stay long enough for me to say hi!" ] - Mina
A glance was made towards the blonde, only for him to face towards the passenger window. The redhead let out a sigh, and continued the conversation, "not my problem you were already inside."
[ "Let me talk to my blasty boy. I miss him!" ] - Mina
"Yeah," a laugh escaped him, before he let out a monotone response, "good luck with that."
[ "Are you on speaker?" ] - Hagakure
Another laugh; this time, his husband joined him, "are you on speaker?"
A buzzed chuckle from, what sounded like, a small crowd of individuals lit up the van, [ "why wouldn't I be? They feel bad about upsetting you, blasty boy. Please come back? We miss you." ] - Mina
A reluctant response finally left the distant boy, which Kirishima could tell was rather forced; but it still had a hint of genuine joy, "convince me, then, ya fucking assholes."
Multiple voices responded with the utmost enthusiasm at the chance he'd given them, starting with Todoroki, of all people, [ "I'll let you roast me like a rotisserary chicken." ] - Todoroki
He didn't hesitate in a flat, monotoned answer, "while that's incredibly compelling, the recent advancements in technology allow me to roast you anywhere, anytime without anyone's help. So try again."
[ "I tried. Tsu, say something. You're friends." ] - Todoroki
The driver of said van let out a slight chuckle, which was accompanied by a rather surprised tone, "you are?"
"You act like I can't make any friends without your help."
"No, hun. I didn't mean it like that, I just," another confused laugh left the boy, as he pulled over, and turned around, knowing full well they'd end up going back, anyways, "I didn't even think you knew each other."
"Well," Katsuki's tone softened, as he continued honestly, "we worked together for a while right before I quit. And she's easy to talk to. So I think we are?"
A small, barely audible croak echoed through the speaker, [ "I'd say so. It'd be nice to catch up. I wanna know how your cat's doing." ] - Tsu
The car went silent for a good ten seconds or so, before a cracked, and slightly broken response came out of the blonde, "she, um. She died. But, uh, we got a new kitten. She's sweet. She keeps eating my shoelaces though. Not that I need them, but like. How rude."
"YEAH, AND SHE ATE. MY CROCS!"
Slight laughter lightened the mood, as they pulled back into the venue parking lot, [ "oh, thank god." ] - Sero
"You know what, Sero, fuck off. I love my crocs, stop being a hater!"
Possibly the best form of hidden sarcasm came from that redhead's husband as that ramp was lowered, "I mean, they are comfortable."
"See, thank you, I - ," the realization hit him, right as he stepped out, "you only started wearing 'em this year, you dick!"
"I mean, technically I'm not lying," Katsuki's smirk game was damn near as strong as his husband's quirk, "con... I can't move. Pro. Damn near everything I wear now is comfortable. Take it with a grain of salt. Feel it, own it, tell it to go fuck itself, and move on with your life! At least that's what my therapist told me to do. So that's what we're trying to do."
Their pink friend sighed through the phone, as she pushed those double doors that faced the parking lot open, [ "it's pretty sad that I know you came back, cuz I can hear your loud ass out in the parking lot from here." ] - Mina
"Ya know what, you can blame my mom for that. Nobody tries that woman. Between me, and her, my poor fucking fathers probably deaf by now."
Kirishima ended the call with a click of the button, and continued the conversation. At the same time, the pink girl, and a few others darted out of the building in order to tackle the two of them, "actually, I could have sworn I saw hearing aids on him the last time we saw them."
A few laughs came from the lot of the ones that had left the building, as well as a nervous, yet genuine laugh from said loud boy, "oh shit. Fucking god I'm gonna have to appologize."
"I mean, speaking of. Genuine question I've had since we met, and I need answers, " an incredibly serious Todoroki spoke in a very direct, and to the point manner, which definitely got Katsuki's attention, "how are you not deaf? I mean between your quirk, and your, ahem, volume problems? You should be. Right? Right??"
Said blonde wore the most confused, and defensive look the lot had ever seen. Or, hadn't seen since they last saw Katsuki, "I'm not fucking deaf, dipshit. I don't know, maybe my quirk has a defense against it, or something? There. Answered. Now shut up."
"You sure about that," Kirishima let out a muffled chuckle, as he closed, and locked the van, "I feel like I'm constantly repeating myself."
The defensive tone, and volume, escalated dramatically, "you know what! I'm already medically needy, so shut the fuck up; I don't need this right now. We'll deal with it next year. One piece of bullshit at a time, please. Alright? Alright. Change the subject."
More laughter came from the whole of them. A handful of their other peers had joined in on the outside fun, and all were grinning from ear to ear, as well. Their floating dress, Hagakure, simply commented in the most joyous tone at the well known sight of the hilariously expressive blonde's memorable bitchiness , "I missed this."
The boy's face fell into a genuinely confused expression, as did the tone he used in his response, "missed what?"
Her tone grew quiet, and if they'd be able to see those cheeks of hers, they'd see a rosy blush, "well... you."
A hesitant, half assed laugh accompanied his flat response, "well I'm a fucking dick, so, uh. Okay."
"You're not, though."
He expected a few to laugh as loudly as he did at the comment, however, his was the only voice that echoed through the parking lot, "yeah, okay. Have you met me?"
Her tone stayed as hushed, and genuine as it had been, "yeah. I mean, yeah. You used to be a bully; I think we all know that. But, you've changed. Try to hide it as much as you want, but we all know you've worked really hard to change that. So stop being hard on yourself."
Tsu was quick to block him from responding in a negative way once more, as she spoke up the moment his mouth opened, "she's right. I didn't like you at first," her gaze left his, as she focused on the cement, and lowered her voice to a mere whisper, "I was scared of you. But by the time we graduated, I actually really liked you, and thought of you as a friend. So... she's right."
One of those gentle hands that belonged to that husband he loved so much pat him on the cheek several times, before ruffling itself through his hair, "told you they didn't hate you."
"Fucking shit. Okay, mushy time's over! You're all too god damn sweet, and I'm emotionally diabetic. Now go inside before I ram you all in the ankles."
A herd of laughs accompanied the smirks they all gave him, before they did as he said, and walked away. The pink klingon stayed, grinned like an idiot, and gave her old friend the most pleading look, "can I hitch a ride?! Pretty please? Or are you fragile? I don't really know, I can't tell."
Another genuine smile accompanied his huff of a laugh, before he vaguely gestured for her to hop on, "I'm not sick or anything, dork. I broke my neck, which just means I can't move, or feel anything below my shoulders. I'm not fucking weak, though. Toss me around like a rag doll, or something. I'll be fine."
"Okay, good. I mean, not that you broke your neck, but like, that you're okay. I was worried you had cancer, or something," Mina let out a relieved sigh, as she climbed into that chair with him, and dramatically draped herself across, ''I really did miss you. No more cutting me off, and dropping off the face of the earth, okay?"
He let a smile snuggle its way into his expression, just as she did with his shoulder, as he began to follow that redhead of his inside, "okay."
***