A/N: Just to let everyone know, Eri is around 9, and Kota's like 8 1/2 years old. Basically, Eri was still learning and getting comfortable with her new life, so, immediately getting her and Kota to meet would be kinda rushed and uncomfortable for her. Also, Kota still needed to recover from the trauma he faced from Muscular. So, yeah. Anyways, enjoy!
A/N #2: A bit is rewritten! I changed my writing style a lot and found a lot of cringey parts I didn't really like, so yeah!
Kota remembers the day he first met Eri vividly.
He had been eating at the dining table when Mandalay had gotten the call from Deku. His ears perked up after hearing the familiar voice, immediately drawn to what they were talking about. He couldn't hear much, but he did catch something about some kid around his age, Mandalay letting out a short laugh at the mention of said person.
Now he was even more curious.
From what he could hear, which wasn't a lot, Deku was eager and had quite a bit set up for whoever this "person" is.
"Alright, look's like we'll be going off to U.A for a day soon!" Mandalay grinned as she put the phone down, sitting back in her seat.
"Okay then.." Kota nodded, going back to eating. The thoughts still weighed on his mind. Who and what was he getting himself into?
A few days after Kota bugging himself, it was finally time to head to U.A. He had chosen a quick outfit similar to the one he wore at the training camp, not knowing if he should even make an effort to dress up or not. Mandalay had rushed him out of bed and fed him breakfast before hurrying him to the car to drive.
The only sounds Kota could hear throughout the trip were the other vehicles driving by, and Mandalay playing a weird podcast he didn't understand. He just had his head on his hand while looking out the window, zoning out, and most.
After a good hour or two, they had finally pulled up right in front of the U.A Heights Alliance. Kota's eyes widened at how big the place was. This is where a bunch of teenagers got to stay? He was still marveling at the building until his eyes caught sight of a very eager greenette. Mandalay already got out of the car, Deku happily greeting her, his emerald eyes quickly shifting to Kota. He tugged on the door and helped the kid get out
"Kota, it's been a while, good to see you!" Deku gave his signature smile, pulling Kota into a warm embrace. He didn't really know what to do for a few seconds, his tiny hands awkwardly hugging him back.
"Uh, hi?" The kid said, giving a smile that surprisingly didn't look so forced for once.
They soon entered the dorms to see a bunch of the students sprawled out in the room. A group of the girls were surrounding another small girl who actually did look around Kota's age. She had long, bluish off-white hair and big, innocent-looking scarlet eyes. She was wearing a very light pink collared shirt with a black pinafore dress over it. Grey tights were underneath with fuzzy socks covering her feet. But the thing that caught the most attention to Kota was a light brown horn sticking out from the side of her head.
"Who is she-?" Kota thought, tilting his head.
It took a few seconds until Uraraka greeted the group of people who had just entered the dorms, everyone turning their attention to Deku and Kota. Right as they did, the little girl excitedly exclaimed Deku's name, rushing over to welcome him, although she only managed to hug his legs instead.
"Hey Eri, it's great to see you too!" He bent down to her height and ruffled her hair, a slight laugh escaping his lips. Deku finally turned to Kota.
"Kota, this is Eri. Eri, this is Kota. He is the person I wanted you to meet. You guys can go up to your room to get to know each other for 30 minutes, mkay?"
At first, Eri seemed a little hesitant, looking up at him again.
"It'll be fine Eri, I wouldn't want you to meet someone I don't trust." He reassured, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Kota was slightly confused. Why did she seem so scared to meet him? Did she never meet anyone in her life? Questioned circled his mind, growing more and more curious about Eri. He definitely didn't want to scare her away, but he still wanted to at least earn her trust. But how?
He was still looking at the girl, an eyebrow raised. He found himself staring at her horn specifically until an idea popped into his head.
"Hey, look we match," Kota said, pointing to her horn then at one of the golden horns on his hat.
Eri noticed it and smiled softly. Alright, she's smiling now, yay!
"Yeah, we do!"
Deku looked pleased to see Eri happily getting along with the young boy. He turned to Kota, most likely proud.
"Alright, now, go play you two."
"Okay, Mr. Deku!" She spoke, her eyes lighting up as she looked up at him.
"C'mon Kota!" She exclaimed happily, offering her hand which Kota reluctantly accepted. Eri dragged him away while running up to her room. They could hear a few of the teens laughing at them, Eri dragging Kota with ease.
"Alright, I have no idea why the heck I'm letting some girl drag me away, but okay." Kota internally rolling his eyes at himself.
Eri was still dragging Kota up the stairs which he somehow didn't really care about. They soon reached the second floor, Kota panting, Eri doing the same. She soon led him to a door that had a cute garland with her name on it. She opened the door and stepped inside.
Kota got hit by the breeze coming from the air conditioner that was on since morning. He looked around for a while thinking that It was a nice room. The walls were a light blue, lighter than her hair. The floor was a lightly polished birch wood floor with a few light red specks, not many though. A nice white desk with a few shelves and cubbies next to it was pushed to the left wall. Right above it was a board with a bunch of small pins and stickers. There were mostly pictures of the many students or people she met. Next to the board was a case of stationery and decorations like flowers, jewels, and charms. On top of the desk was a tablet with a pen, which she got as a gift, a sketchbook, and three cups filled with various art supplies. Then there were the shelves. The bigger one had loads of books. There was a small basket with paints, glitter, glue, string, ribbon, and craft supplies farther back. Then, the smaller shelf, had video games, small figures, and merch.
In the middle of the room was a huge, light red, fluffy, carpet. And a few feet from it, was a canopy bed with red fabric and yellow bedsheets, with a butt load of stuffed animals and pillows. At the end of the bed was a big chest with small details and patterns, with the label "Toys and Stuffies" carved into the trunk.
Kota was lost in thought as he admired the room, he didn't notice Eri sitting on her bed, legs dangling off the edge. Before he can think longer, Eri made a small coughing noise, pulling his attention onto her.
"Uh, I have some games, we can draw, play a movie, or anything you want."
"Uhm, wanna play 20 questions?" Kota replied.
"Sure!" Eri smiled.
They sat on the bed for a while, Eri busting out a large marker pack and paper to draw while mindlessly talking and getting to know each other more. Kota brought up quirks at one point and talked about it before leaving the topic, as Eri didn't seem too happy with it.
"Maybe something happened to her?" He thought, taking notice of how uncomfortable she became at the mention of quirks.
"So, do you have any hobbies?" Eri asked, smiling at the kid.
"Yeah, I do. I play video games now and then and I'm learning how to play the guitar."
"Oh, that's so cool! I can sing a little and draw." She said, her eyes sparkling at the mention of singing.
"Oh, cool. Maybe we can do something around that, like a fake concert?" He asked, curious to hear her voice. He's heard The Wild Wild Pussycats sing before, Mandalay sometimes even sang little lullabies before, but he never really heard kids sing, and Eri did have a pretty voice, so he wondered how she sounded.
Eri pondered the question for a while before settling on doing it.
"I have a mic set I can set up to my tablet!" She beamed, going into the trunk to pull out a pink microphone with a large cable. She plugged the cable into her tablet, scrolling through a bunch of random songs. At some point, Jirou had set up a playlist filled with a bunch of fun songs Eri was allowed to listen to, and they usually brighten up her mood a lot.
The two spent the rest of the time jamming to a bunch of songs, making sure to stay away from anything inappropriate. Eri had also sung along to a few of them, Kota definitely a bit impressed. Like he had thought earlier, she was decently good. The two were having a blast, not aware that a few of the students were able to hear them jumping around from downstairs.
In what felt like little time, the 30 minutes was up, Deku getting up from his spot on the couch to get the two children. He walked towards the door, hearing the sounds of music and the two laughing. He almost didn't want to disturb them, but they were still stuck on a fairly tight schedule. He opened the door, watching the two playfully jumping around, Eri laughing into the mic.
Deku quickly took a few pictures of the two having fun, tucking it into his pocket and letting out a cough to get attention.
"Hey guys, it's time to go out.." He started chuckling at the reaction of the two kids.
Both of them stopped at the same time, Eri with a small pout. Whoops.
"Uh, was the music too loud?" Kota asked as Eri put away her stuff.
"Not really, but we could kinda hear you guys from downstairs," Deku said.
"We gotta go, We've got a packed schedule. By the way, Mandalay already has your bag, and Mr.Aizawa has yours downstairs Eri." He explained, letting the two out of the room before shutting the door closed.
The three headed downstairs. Uraraka fixed up Eri's hair into two pigtails while Kota stood off to the side stiffly. Deku met up with Aizawa assuring him that he'll keep the two safe and have both of them back by 6:00. He also passed by all the classmates, showing them the pictures he took. Most of them laughed it off, but Bakugou didn't seem so fond, causing small fire sparks to burst from his hands threateningly.
"KACCHAN NOO!" Deku yelped, Kirishima somehow got the blonde to calm down. Kota raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes.
"Angry pomeranian." He mumbled under his breath.
A few minutes later, Uraraka had finished doing Eri's hair, letting them go to their shoes. Eri laced up her boots, Kota putting on the red sneakers he had bought to 'secretly' match Deku. The greenette had been talking to Sato, graciously thanking him for cooking a few things to have for lunch. He quickly took the basket with stuff, hurriedly catching up with Eri and Kota at the entrance.
The three walked outside of the building as Deku explained what the day will look like. First, they'll go out to the mall, armed with Aizawa's credit card, of course, then they would head over to the cafe, and finally, have a picnic at the park.
They took the subway over to the mall first.
Eri had chosen to go to the art supply store first as she definitely needed a few things. Once they entered the store, Eri wandered around, her eyes seeing stars as she looked through the shelves. Paints and materials galore. She had soon come across the watercolor section, quickly grabbing a set of glittery ones. Kota didn't really care for artsy stuff, but a fairly nice notebook and pens caught his eye.
After paying, they headed off to a music store. Of course, Kota didn't really want to buy a whole instrument, he was only practicing at the moment so it would just be stupid. But there was a specific booth he liked where they chose a base for a guitar pick and customized it. And that led to him getting one with a watercolor splatter with his name on it. Eri was a bit bored, but she ended up finding a golden harp pin she thought would be nice to have on her board.
After a little while of browsing and going through multiple stores, the group got hungry, which was the perfect time to head to the cafe to quickly pick up a few random snacks, Eri requesting to get hot chocolate while Kota only wanted cold water.
A little while after they got the food, they took a quick bus to the local park while nomming on their quick snacks. Luckily, both the children were able to keep their stuff in their bags so they wouldn't be forced to carry so much.
Deku picked out a nice shaded spot underneath a huge tree with a view that faced a perfect water fountain display. He laid out the red plain blanket he brought along, also taking out some of the tasty food Sato had thankfully prepared for them.
"Don't get too far!" He called out as the two ran off, both yelling "Yes!" in acknowledgment.
Both the kids took off towards the playground, although there wasn't much to play around with.
"There was a way better park I used to go to with Mirio, maybe I can convince him to take us there some time," Eri said as they crossed the gate to enter the play area. There weren't many kids around, much to Kota's luck.
"Yeah maybe." He hummed. It had lightly rained the day prior which left wet patches on the slides, leaving not much else to do.
"Hey, the swings look pretty dry." Eri pointed towards the other gated-off section where the swingset hung.
"Let's face it the swings are always the fun part at playgrounds." Kota shrugged, getting onto one of them.
"Yeah, that's true." Eri sat on the swing next to him, starting to swing herself. It took a few tries until the swing picked up speed, laughing as she got higher and higher.
They were both having a blast until Eri noticed a few kids standing by the gates, most likely waiting for their turn.
"We should get off now," Eri suggested, looking towards the smaller kids. Kota nodded, soon stopping the swing until he could get off, Eri doing the same thing. They skipped off, walking around the park for a bit instead while keeping mind of what Deku had told them.
"Woah, this is so pretty!" Eri grinned, coming across a certain area in the park. Flowers were littering the ground, butterflies of all different colors fluttering in the air. Kota looked around, his eyes catching a pretty spot with a bunch of colorful flowers.
"I wanna get something real quick." He said, looking back at Eri, who was happily trying to catch a few of the butterflies.
"Okay!" She called out to him, catching a glimpse of where he was headed off to.
Kota shrugged, climbing up the small hill to find the certain patch of flowers he saw. He started picking a few, especially buttercups. His hands tried grabbing a big dahlia flower when all of a sudden he heard a shriek. He quickly turned back to see Eri get pushed away by some other kid with bright orange hair. Behind the said kid were a few other boys laughing at her. Kota had an angry frown, quickly putting down the flowers he had picked and running towards them.
"HEY!" He yelled, the group looking at him. He quickly pulled Eri up, seeing a small smear of blood on her knee.
"What's your problem!?" He asked, standing in front of her.
"Pft, you're really standing up for a lame, weak girl?" The boy scoffed.
"She's not weak dimwit! And you didn't even answer my question." Kota narrowed his eyes, glancing back at Eri now and then.
"She's so weak, running around and catching bUtTeRfLiEs, pathetic." One of the other guys mocked. "Besides, she has red eyes too!" Another one commented.
"What does having red eyes have to do with you guys bullying her?" Kota asked, bending down to see the cut.
"Uh, can't you tell? Only villains have red eyes." The main kid said as if it was a proven fact.
"H-Huh?" Eri looked up, tears daring to form and spill. Kota's eyes widened, his teeth grit. Before the kids could say anything else, a wave of water swooped towards them, splashing all 4.
"HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"GROSS!"
The kids complained and whined, a coy smirk crossing Kota's face.
"I think you should leave and be shitty somewhere else." He sneered, watching all of them run away fearfully.
"They didn't even try to fight, wimps." He mumbled, looking back down at Eri's bloody knee.
"Uhm, Thank you for the help.." Eri mumbled, her hand grazing the cut.
"Meh it was nothing, is your knee okay though?" Kota asked, genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, I'm sure Mr.Deku brought a first aid kid." She said, looking away from the blood.
"We should get back.." He said, helping the girl up.
"Oh before we go, I picked a bunch of flowers." He said, quickly going back to the pile he left behind.
"Ooh, pretty!" Eri smiled, taking a few in her hand. The two walked back to where the fountain was, Eri having a slightly hard time with her knee. Luckily, Kota had no problem helping her, carefully holding her arm whenever she winced.
"Oh, hey guys- What happened?" Deku asked concerned, noticing Eri's slightly sad expression.
"Some kids pushed her and called her a villain." Kota said with a hint of bitterness.
"Oh, I see, come here so I can clean it." Deku ushered Eri to sit down, digging into the basket to pull out a small box filled with small first aid supplies. He took out a few alcohol wipes and ripped the pack, bringing it towards the bloody spot.
"This might hurt a bit, sorry!" He apologized, quickly dabbing on the alcohol pad and keeping it on the cut for a bit before picking it up and rubbing it over the mark, cleaning off extra blood. Then, he grabbed a bandaid and put it on.
"How's that now?" He asked, putting away the extra bandaids and wraps.
"Better." Eri smiled.
"Can we eat now?" Kota asked, feeling his stomach rumble in desperate need of food.
"Yes, yes we can eat," Deku laughed, letting the kids eat their lunch.
After enjoying the perfectly made meal, the three sat around for a while to rest, Eri pointing to a bunch of things she found pretty.
For the next 20 minutes, the three relaxed until it was time to go home. They took a quick bus ride until they got close enough to the U.A dorms, walking the rest of the way until the large building came into view. They quickly ran there, Eri and Kota sliding off their shoes while Deku quickly greeted the students in the room.
The girls quickly rushed up to Eri, bombarding her with questions too fast for her to comprehend.
"Give the kids the break, you'll scare them." Aizawa stepped in, rubbing his temples.
"Sorry Aizawa-Sensei.." The students mumbled.
"You two should get cleaned up." The teacher said, looking down at the kids, both nodding and going up to wash up. Eri already had changed into a light pink cat set, Kota digging into his bag to find a simple shirt and pants.
It was decided that Kota and Eri would sleep on a bed together since none of the other extra dorms had an already set bed. He offered to sleep on the floor or the couch downstairs, but Deku didn't really like that idea due to how he was sure Kota had a slight fear of being alone.
Thus led to the two children just sleeping on the bed. Meh whatever they're kids anyway, it's not like they'll fuck or anything.
The two stayed up on the bed, playing random card games Eri managed to steal from the Bakusquad. Both of them tried to silence their voices, although they were sure most of the students were still awake, it would be better to not cause any trouble. The room was filled with silent laughs, the only light source being a golden lantern Eri put up on the bedside table.
At around 10:00 the two finally decided to go to sleep. Eri and Kota were both on opposite sides of the bed.
"Goodnight, Kota," Eri said sleepily, tossing over to adjust the comforter.
"G'night Eri.." Kota mumbled, already half asleep.
Of course, they slept on separate sides when they went to bed, but that wasn't exactly the case went they woke up. Eri was cuddled up to Kota, still sleeping peacefully. They still a decent gap between the two, Kota's arm just barely holding onto hers. They just looked..peaceful.
Of course, Deku came in to check up on them but only got blessed by the grand sight first. Not wanting to disturb them, he quickly snapped a few pictures and sent them to Uraraka, then happily skipping off while whistling a happy tune.
Of course, the said girl and a few others quickly burst into the room right after, just to make sure their eyes weren't deceiving. Same reaction. Of course, that led to the other students seeing the pics. Let's just say it was a great start to their mornings.
Kota was the first to wake up, heat rushing to his face from the close proximity.
He looked towards the blue-haired girl sleeping peacefully, a small smile crossing her face.
"Maybe she's having a dream?" Kota thought, looking down and questioning what he was supposed to do. A light cinnamon and apple scent roamed around, giving a calm atmosphere to the room. He still stared at Eri, watching her sleep calmly.
Time to ruin that.
"Hey Eri, wake up." He spoke softly, patting her shoulder. After a few seconds of her remaining still, he took a deep breath, getting off the bed as slowly as he could.
"WAKE.UP!" He shouted, keeping a distance. The poor girl woke up startled. Her head snapped towards the boy cackling at her confused expression.
"What was that for?!" She asked, her voice not being able to fully yell. Kota continued to snicker, his laughter soon dying down.
"That was dumb." Eri yawned, her voice surprisingly softer than before.
"Sorry,"
"I'm not actually sorry," Kota mumbled under his breath. Luckily Eri didn't seem to hear, too busy pulling out a quick outfit to wear for the morning.
Kota went to his backpack and took out his spare outfit. It was a simple white shirt, a black hoodie with a red pocket, and some shorts.
Eri walked to her closet, where she had a bunch of outfits and dresses Aizawa had bought for her. Eri took out a light grey shirt with flowers, a skirt with light red polka dots, topping it off with a little red beanie.
"Hey, we match again!" Eri giggled, pointing to her red beanie. Kota nodded, a barely noticeable blush still on his face.
Once they got downstairs, they were brought to the sight of a very happy Mina jumping around.
Mina bolted towards the two, hugging them with happy tears in her eyes.
"You two are too precious!" She exclaimed.
"Uh, Okay then.." Kota got a little weirded out, while Eri giggled lightly.
"Ah, hey kid," Mandalay spoke up from the couch, taking a sip from her cup.
"You and Eri have one hour before we gotta go. I would've let you stay here, but the camp needs some fixing, so I can't." She explained. Kota nodded, quickly taking Eri to get some breakfast the students prepared.
"Ooh, pancakes!" Eri clapped her hands, watching Sato gently place one onto their plates. They watched as Sato quickly drizzled on the syrup and whipped cream.
"Thank you!" Eri said as she grabbed her plate.
"Thanks.." Kota nodded, taking his plate to walk with Eri. They quickly got up to Eri's room, Kota already taking a bite of his food along the way. The two practically inhaled their food, not wanting to let any time go to waste.
"Hey, we can play some Mario Kart while we're bored," Eri suggested after cleaning up.
"Yeah sure, why not." Kota hummed, following her to get the controllers. The two spent the rest of the hour playing games, the room filling with laughs and bickering. Time flew by way too fast for their liking, Deku slowly peeking into the room to see Kota crying in defeat for the 3rd time in a row. He chuckled under his breath, knocking on the door to get their attention.
"Alright Kota, it's time to go. Say bye to Eri." Deku said, a little sad to split the two up.
"Aww, okay, I'll be down in a minute," Kota replied nonchalantly. He had to admit, he kinda didn't want to leave Eri. She's pretty fun..well..funner than any other little girl he's met, which didn't narrow down to much, but still.
Deku left the room, leaving the two kids alone.
"Well, bye Kota, it was nice meeting you. Maybe I can get Deku to bring you back here to play again!" Eri said, cheerily, a pang of sadness trickling in her mind.
"Yeh, I hope! Welp, Bye, Eri." Kota said, still upset. He walked over and gave Eri a hug, which she happily returned. The two separated. Kota was about to walk out the door before he walked out, Eri grabbed his wrist.
"Wait, I wanna do something real quick!" She said in an innocent tone.
"Hm, Sure, what is it?" Kota asked, wondering what she wanted to do.
Eri didn't say anything before she leaned in, pecking on the cheek.
"AHH, A GIRL JUST KISSED ME!" Kota screamed internally, eyes widening. Sure, cheek kisses were fairly common among kids, but this was different, way different!
He blushed to the same shade of Kirishima's hair color, still comprehending what just happened. Eri giggled at his expression before taking his hand to lead him downstairs. The scent of cinnamon, apples, and vanilla still lingered around Kota. He didn't notice before, but Eri's hand was warm and super soft, holding a sudden calming touch in a way
The students noticed Kota's red face, just barely lighter. The students quickly bid Kota and Mandalay goodbye, a certain group of nosey teens wondering why Kota was so red. Mandalay smiled, letting Kota into the car as she quickly said goodbye to Aizawa. Deku waved at Kota from the window, the boy just giving a small smile instead.
Once Mandalay got into the car, she started the engine and drove away, Kota looking back at the waving figures in front of the building as they slowly disappeared behind him. He shuffled to start facing forward again, his face still a bright shade.
A few minutes into the drive, Mandalay finally noticed just how red-faced the boy was in the mirror. She smirked, before asking in a teasing tone.
"So, Kota, mind explaining why you're so red?" She asked, still smirking.
This only made Kota blush more, recalling the event. He faltered a few words, but no actual words came out.
"I-it's nothing..." He mumbled, looking down to try to hide his face.
"Hm, alright, you're off the hook, but I want details later." She said shrugging, her shit-eating smirk still present. The drive back was mostly Kota talking about his day and his thoughts on Eri. She was a cool girl. She was smart, fun, kind, helpful, and really cute. He sighed, his thoughts still set on her. He definitely liked her and could tell they were going to be good friends.
But what will happen in the future? How will their friendship change as they get older?