Chapter Text
Katsuki groans as the trek up the mountain begins in earnest, “Kirishima, remind me, what the heck is the point of this???”
Kiri’s not sure he’ll ever get used to hearing Katsuki censor himself like that. “It’s for the adventure, man.”
Mina adds, “And there’s supposed to be a really pretty waterfall at the top!”
That was really all Ibara needed to hear to be convinced. She argues with Katsuki though, “This isn’t that different from our morning jogs. There’s just more incline.”
“Yeah but they said we can’t run ahead!”
Mina shouts, “For two reasons! One, it’s dangerous. You could trip and die.”
Katsuki huffs, feeling pretty confident he would trip and live actually. Kiri then says, “Two, the whole point is for us to stick together, and hang out. The rest of us aren’t going to be able to keep up if you start flying ahead, Bakugo.”
“I’m not gonna use my quirk!” He realizes it has been a little while since he’s hung out with Kirishima, and clearly Ibara was definitely on the side of wanting to just enjoy nature. He supposes he’ll try his best to have fun with this. Even if it was already pissing him off. “I’ll chill out…”
Ibara smiles at him, taking his hand and tapping her head to his shoulder as they keep on trekking.
For a little while, the four just enjoy the sights and sounds of nature together. Birds chirping and the gentle mountain breeze that sweeps through them. It was all so serene.
It’s kind of weird, Katsuki didn’t think these two were capable of being quiet for so long, but he sees they’re really just taking it all in. Till Mina says, “So, Ibara!”
“Yes Mina?”
“You remember when we had that essay for Ms. Fukukado’s class, that was like, ‘What would you do if you couldn’t be a hero?’”
“Of course.”
“What’d you say?”
“I said I’d most likely become a missionary. Ms. Fukukado wasn’t too pleased with that answer since she said that’s too similar to hero work… -But she did give me a passing grade! What’d you say?”
“I said- Ooh, wait! Let’s make a game of this.”
Kiri snickers, “That’s a weird thing to put in an essay.”
Mina hits him with her special move, a Harmless Barrage of Punches!
Ibara asks, “Kirishima, do you already know what Mina put?”
“Of course man.”
“Then you should guess what Katsuki put.”
“Oh! Okay. Hmm…” He stares really hard at Katsuki as if he could read the answer off his forehead.
Bakugo smirks, “Kirishima definitely put professional body builder, or fitness guru. Something like that. Am I right?”
“Nah, man. I said I wanted to be in a rock band…”
“-Wait seriously?”
Kiri laughs at how easy it was to shoot a hole in Bakugo’s confidence, “No! Of course I’d be a fitness guru, man! I’m great at pumping people up.”
Giggling at that phrasing, Mina headbutts his shoulder.
Kiri declares, “Bakugo! You wanted to be…” He still can’t think of anything, but then he considers, “I don’t think you put anything man.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
Kiri asks so genuinely, “Do you have other interests besides being a hero? All we ever talk about is training regimen stuff.”
Katsuki is just a little bit hurt hearing him say that, “We talk about other stuff!”
“Like what?” Kirishima’s genuinely considering checking their texts to find out if he’s wrong.
“I told you about all the shit that was happening with my parents!”
Kiri shrinks, “-Oh. Yeah…”
“Yeah!”
“It’s not that I forgot! I just… didn’t think I should bring that up here.”
“Ibara was there, and don’t act like you didn’t tell Ashido!”
Mina cuts in to defend her boy, “He didn’t! Ochako did though…”
Katsuki growls, “Of course…”
Ibara giggles, and Kiri finally says, “Wait, I’ve got it!” He thinks Katsuki brought all that up as a hint, “You want to be a stay-at-home dad!”
Ibara blushes as her mind flashes, so many images of domestic Katsuki. Oh my goodness, that would be so cute…
Katsuki supposes that isn’t the worst answer, but he still says, “No. I said-”
Ibara shouts, “Wait! Can I guess?”
He smiles, just a little at her enthusiasm. “Sure.”
She bites her lip for just a moment as she thinks about it. “You wanted to be… A chef.”
Mina is so thrown by that guess, “There’s no way that’s what it is! He definitely said something like police officer, or -no! Detective- Criminal interrogator!”
He snaps at Mina, “Why would I ever pick something so lame!?”
Mina snaps back, “I don’t think a detective is lame…”
Kiri asks, “Well what was it then?”
Katsuki blushes and mutters, “It was a chef…”
Ibara sparkles. That’s right, I know my man!
Mina’s suspicious, “You’re just saying that cause it was Ibara’s answer.”
Kiri adds, “It does kind of make sense though. Bakugo’s a pretty good cook.”
Mina doesn’t want to give in that easily, so she interrogates him, “What’d you say was the reason?”
Katsuki doesn’t hesitate because he is telling the truth. “I always really liked cooking with my parents. When they trusted me to cook, and told me my dishes were good that always felt really good. It’s the same when you guys tell me you like my cooking too…” Too sincere- “Asshole!”
Now that sounds more like the Bakugo Mina knows. “Alright already. I bet neither of you can guess what mine is!”
Ibara and Katsuki say in perfect sync, “Choreographer.”
Mina slumps against Kirishima. “Kiri, we need more hobbies to throw people off!”
Kiri pats her, “That’s what we’re doing right now.”
Ibara finally hears the sound of falling water just above the next hill, she rushes up ahead just to see it first. The lake and waterfall is every bit as picturesque as Mina told her it would be.
Mina hurries up next to her, “Ibara, may I have the honor, of taking a selfie with you here?”
Ibara giggles, “Sure.”
Mina gets out her phone and poses next to her viney girl, she doesn’t notice till after she takes the picture, they got a perfect little rainbow casted over their heads. “Omigaww, so cuuute!!! Kiri! Katsuki! Get in here!!!”
The boys aren’t given any time to just appreciate the spectacle on their own, but they get in the picture with their girlfriends. Kiri holds the phone for them since he’s on the end. Another perfect picture with the waterfall’s little rainbow behind them.
Mina sends it to all of them, “I have the cutest friends, I swear.”
Katsuki chuffs, “Even me?”
Mina giggles, “Especially you! Your grumpy face just makes Ibara look even cuter!”
Ibara has to hold him back. She calls to Kiri, “So! Picnic?”
Kiri sets out the blanket for them, and pulls the little lunch box from his bag. Mina brought water, and he made simple sandwiches for everyone! He hands them out as everyone sits down. “Mina, lil scrambled eggy sandwich. Bakugo, spicy katsu, a lil beef katsu for me, and Shiozaki, I didn’t know what you liked so I went with a classic PB&J since I figured that’s vegan.”
Ibara will so happily enjoy a PB&J, but she despairs as she doesn’t understand, how many times she has to tell people, “I’m not a vegan…”
“You’re not!? My bad man!” He panics a little, and offers his sandwich, “Do you want mine?”
“No…” She bites into her sandwich.
Mina is a little curious as she watches Katsuki and Kiri and eat beside each other. “So, like… What do you guys normally talk about?”
Katsuki squints at her, “What does that even mean?”
“You and Kiri, you’re like best friends right?”
“Ha! No, Ibara’s my best friend.”
Ibara sparkles but, Kiri’s spikes droop just a little.
Katsuki sneers at him, “Don’t tell me Ashido isn’t your best friend!”
Mina is very interested to hear Kiri’s response to that.
“I mean obviously she is! I just thought we weren’t going to count girlfriends…”
Katsuki sighs, “Not counting Ibara… Kirishima is my best friend. I guess.”
Kirishima brightens up. “You’re definitely one of my best friends too, Bakugo.”
“What do you mean one of!?”
“Kaminari’s a pretty chill dude, and Midoriya’s hella supportive!”
“I can be chill and supportive!”
Mina snickers, but Ibara defends him, “I’ve seen it before.”
“See!”
Kiri laughs, “I’m just messin with ya man, you know how much I love our texts!”
Mina lights up, “What do you guys text about?”
Katsuki very subtly shakes his head at Kirishima, Don’t…tell her… Don't you dare tell her…
“We motivate each other to work out!”
“Oh.” I guess that makes sense. Mina doesn’t know what she was expecting.
“By sending pictures of ourselves shirtless!”
Mina does a spit take and Ibara chokes on her sandwich- “Wh-what?”
Katsuki growls, “Kirishimaaaa…”
“What? How else do you show off your gains?”
Katsuki drags Kiri out of earshot from the girls.
Mina notices Kiri left his phone behind, and knowing his password is her birthday, getting in isn’t a problem. She goes through his messages with Katsuki, not out of any sort of paranoia. Just curiosity. Ibara scoots closer too, just out of curiosity…
Most of their texts are just talking about workout routines, and most of the pictures they send back and forth are of workout equipment. Usually big weights from Kiri, captioned “Beat that.” or a treadmill stat screen showing miles ran in different amounts of time from Katsuki, captioned, “Beat this loser!”
Pretty regularly scattered throughout, there’s a close up of either of the boys biceps, calves, or abs, but on rare occasions they send each other full shirtless pics to show off. Usually those are captioned, something like “Check how shredded I got on my last cut!” or “You wish you had muscle tone like this, nerd!!!”
Katsuki, pretty sure the girls can’t hear them as they stand right next to the waterfall, he asks, “Do you know what Ibara told me the first time we kissed!?”
“Why would I know that…?”
“She said, ‘Oh I thought you already had your first kiss!’”
Kiri still doesn’t get where he’s going with this, “Hey man, Mina was my first kiss too-”
“That’s not!- She genuinely thought I had my first kiss with you or that damn nerd Deku!”
“. . . Wait, did you?”
“NO!”
Kiri winces at how loud Katsuki is being, “I don’t get why you’re being so defensive…”
“I don’t want Ibara to break up with me because she thinks you and I are having an affair or something!!!”
Kiri scratches his head, “Don’t you worry she might think you were having an affair with Midoriya?”
“Why would I worry about that?”
“I don’t know, you had a week long sleep over with him, and you never do that with me…”
“Ibara was there!”
“Man, I just think it’s messed up you didn’t invite me and Mina…”
“I was practically held there against my will, MAN!”
“I coulda sworn you said you had a good time…”
Katsuki mutters something under his breath.
“Huh?”
“I said it would’ve been a better time if you were there too, ALRIGHT!?”
Kiri stares at him for a moment, and then asks, “Are we having an affair?”
Katsuki groans, and drags him back. They return to the girls blushing wide eyed at Kiri’s phone.
Kiri doesn’t mind this from Mina, but he is a little weirded out by Ibara looking at them. “Ehm.”
They both snap back to reality, and the phone flicks out of Mina’s hand. It’s destined for the lake- but Ibara catches it with her vine, and hands it back to Kiri, blushing and looking away. Mina declares, “Ibara and I have decided that we will allow you two to continue sending pictures, but you have to also send them to us.”
Ibara gasps, “I would never say such a sinful thing!”
Kiri and Katsuki harmonize, “Yeah, we’re not gonna do that.”
Mina looks so disappointed.
Katsuki snaps at her, “I’m not sending you shirtless pics Ashido! That’s weird!!!”
“I don’t want yours anyways!”
“Then what the fuck are you talking about!?”
“I want Kiri’s, obviously!”
Kiri cuts in to add, “Mina, you see me shirtless all the time…”
Mina pouts, “I just mean, if you’re gonna take pics anyways, I wouldn’t mind having some…”
“I guess I could…”
Katsuki huffs and sits back down next to Ibara, “Do you want me to send you the pictures I take?”
“What?! Noo- that’s much too sinful. . .” The images she saw are already burned into her mind.
He asks very genuinely, “Does it bother you that I send them to Kirishima?”
“No. . .”
“Ibara…”
“Okay! A little! But only because you didn’t tell me...”
He takes her hand, “I should’ve told you. I just didn’t really think about it before…”
“I know it was just you and him being competitive, so it’s okay…”
She still looks so flustered, he scoots a little closer, holding her hand a little warmer, “What can I do to make it up to you?”
Ibara, so bashfully says, “Well…”
She’s gonna ask me to send her pictures too isn’t she…
“I guess you could carry me down the mountain…”
“Oh.” I allowed Raccoon-Eyes to rot my brain, of course that’s what Ibara actually wants… “Like right now?”
Ibara stifles a giggle, “No, when we leave. I want to enjoy the view here for a little while.” She leans against him. They both enjoy the waterfall for about five seconds, till they notice Kiri and Mina just fully making out a few feet from them. She whispers to Katsuki, “We could leave right now if you want.”
“Yep, sounds good!” He scoops her up so quick, and starts heading down the mountain.
Ibara calls back to Kiri and Mina, “We’ll meet you guys at the base of the mountain! Don’t get lost!”
Mina pulls away- “Ibara! Wait up! We have to pack up all the stuff!”
“Sorry Mina, Katsuki’s carrying me away!”
Kiri asks so innocently, “Think it was something I said?”
Mina giggles and helps him up. “Nah-”
Kiri takes a sudden selfie with her, kissing the top of her head. She’s like mid-sentence, and looks so confused at what he’s doing. That’s the perfect picture to Kiri. It barely even shows the waterfall in the background. “That’s gonna be my new lockscreen.” He sets it immediately.
“Stop being so cute!!!” She shoves him into the lake, though she really didn’t think he’d fall that far.
The water’s thankfully not that deep. He tosses his phone gently onto the sandy shore. “Mina… you know what has to happen now right?”
“Kiri, hold on… It wasn’t on purpose-” He scoops her up by her legs “-EE!” and he’s about to slam her into the water when she shouts- “Wait wait wait!”
He patiently holds her in air jail.
She gets her phone out of her back pocket and tosses it onto shore next to his… “Okay, I accept my fate.” She crosses her arms and closes her eyes.
Kiri leaps with her to dunk them both in the lake.
Katsuki and Ibara wait at the bottom of the mountain for a while, though they never mind each other’s company. Katsuki tells her, “I’m being so serious. I can’t bend my pinky without bending my ring finger.”
“How’s that possible?”
“Look.” He shows her, bending both pinkies, and every time his ring finger bends just a little.
“You’re doing that on purpose!”
He laughs, “I’m not! I think it’s way weirder you can!”
She bends both her pinkies without moving her other fingers at all. She makes the goofiest face at him.
“See, that’s crazy.”
She laughs and butts her head against his shoulder, “Here.” She holds his first three fingers, “Now try to bend it.” He does, and though she holds it still she can feel his ring finger trying to bend. “That’s so weird!”
He intertwines his fingers with hers. “Now all your independently moving fingers belong to me! Muahaha.”
“Oh no…” She pecks him, and smiles.
He smiles and kisses her right back. “What other weird things should I know about you?”
“Hmm.” She takes a moment of deep consideration, squinting at the sky. “I’d probably be an incredible pianist.”
“Why?”
“My fingies.” She taps a little tune on the back of his hand. “Also my vines.” She’d have demonstrated with them, but they were up in an intricate bun right now that she didn’t feel like untangling for the sake of a visual aid. “Ms. Fukukado made me start to think about all the different stuff our quirks could be used for. I think if I get the chance to retire from hero work, I’d like to try playing music.”
“I could teach you how to play drums.”
She chuffs, “Of course you know how to play drums.”
“Did you not see me at the culture festival last year? I killed it!”
“Did you see me at the culture festival last year?”
He has to seriously think about that, “No? Did you do something with music?”
She giggles, “No, I acted.”
He gasps, “A sinful deception?”
She chops him on the head, “Acting is not deception!”
He smirks. “Probably not the way you’d do it.”
She gasps, “That’s so mean! You haven’t even seen me act.”
“No, but I’m imagining it… It’s pretty bad.”
She tries to shove him off the bench, but her plot is foiled by the fact that she doesn’t want to let go of his hand. “I’ll have you know, I was told I played the princess quite well!”
“By who?”
“People…” She sees him crack a smirk, “Shut up!” She bites his hand.
He laughs, “Alright! I’m just messing with you. You know if you were performing anywhere I’d be in the front row, screaming louder than anyone for you.”
“I know, that’s why it’s annoying!” She bites him again.
“You know you don’t have to retire by the way?”
She looks at him so pensive with her teeth still sunk into his knuckles. “Huh?”
“If you want to do music, or acting. You can just do that stuff too. You don’t have to wait.”
“I know… I guess it’s just sort of scary.”
“Why?”
“What if I’m bad at it?”
He snorts, “You probably will be. That’s the whole point of practicing though.”
“But aren’t you just good at everything from the start?”
He chuckles, “Don’t tell anyone, but…” He looks both ways before confessing, “No. I used to be only okay at drumming.”
“Is that all?”
He bites his lip, mocking her thinking face as he pretends to think about it. Though he ends up thinking of this gold: “I used to be not so good at relationships, and then this weird girl with weird- What’d you call them?”
“Vines?”
“Fingies. This girl with weird independent fingies, made me realize that I could really care about someone else.”
Ibara leans into him. “I think what I actually made you realize is that you don’t have to act, like you don’t care.”
“Hmm… Nah, I definitely didn’t care about anyone before you. Especially not that nerd Deku, or that dork Kirishima.”
Ibara rests her chin on his shoulder while she looks back up the mountain, “Speaking of, what do you think is taking so long?”
“Maybe they got eaten by bear.”
He said it so quickly it really catches Ibara off guard, and she laughs.
“Hey! Don’t laugh at that!”
“I know- I know! I don’t know why, that just really got to me.”
Kiri and Mina lay out in the sunniest spot they can find, waiting for their clothes, but mainly their sneakers to dry out… Kiri asks, “You’re mad right?”
Mina snorts, “No. That was fun!” She reaches back for her phone, but can’t quite find it without looking. “Mmyehh!” She gives up.
Kiri reaches to find her phone, and gives it to her while he asks, “What do you think Shiozaki and Bakugo are doing?”
“Probably just making out.”
Kiri laughs, “That sounds like Shiozaki.”
Mina texts Fukukado as she says, “Kiri… Who do you think we should choose?”
“For…?”
“Our future.”
Kiri pictures a presidential election. “Huh?”
Mina scoots over to headbutt him. “Okay, so like, obviously Katsuki and Izuku are going to start rival agencies, right?”
“Oh, yeah, probably.”
“Momo’s probably going to start her own too. Then there’s Tokoyami and the Quiet Boys.”
“Did you want to join theirs?”
“Def not! I love the bird guy, and Shinso, and- Well all those boys, but I think I’d go crazy if I was working with ‘em everyday.”
“Okay, what if we live with Midoriya and Uraraka, but we work with Bakugo and Shiozaki.”
“Ah! What about Denki and Kyoka?”
“They’re definitely gonna join Yaoyorozu’s agency.”
“Kiri.”
“Yeees?”
“Why don’t you just call everyone by their first names like I do?”
“Well because, I think it makes it more special if you’re the only one I call by their first name.”
Mina sparkles, feeling so suddenly close to crying, “Yeah okay!”
He smiles with that adorable shark-toothed smile of his at her. “What if we started our own agency?”
“Just you and me?”
“Well I mean, we could invite others.”
“I just don’t think you and I have the same sort of pull as a Momo, Izuku, or a Katsuki.”
“Yeah, but who needs em.”
“Me.”
“What? Why?”
“Kiri, if I’m left alone with you for too long I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself.” She slaps him on the chest, “See, it’s like a magnet!”
He takes her hand and kisses it, “Alright, we can figure it out later, let’s head back before the others leave us.”
“But our shoes are gonna be all sloshy and squeaky!”
“Just hold em.” He gets up, putting his backpack on his front, and squats at the top of the trail. “Hop on!”
Mina scoops up their shoes, and hops on his back wrapping her arms and legs tightly around him. “You sure you wanna carry me the whole walk down?”
He smirks, feeling so cool as he says, “We’re not walking down.” He turns his feet rock solid, and hops to the slope. They start skating down, immediately gaining so much speed. “I got this idea from you!”
“Kiri! What happens if you hit a root or something!?”
“I’ll just do a sick flip!” He’s trying to sound confident but he is absolutely freaking out over how much they’re accelerating.
About a minute later, at the bottom of the hill, Ibara and Katsuki hear screaming coming from up the mountain.
Mina shouts, “Ibara!!! Catch us!!!”
“Huh?” Ibara looks up the hill to see Kiri and Mina sliding down on a slick of acid, “Oh goodness!” She sees them hit a big root, and fling forward, Ibara is quick to catch them with a wall of vines.
Katsuki shouts, “What the heck happened!?”
Mina explains, holding on tight to Ibara’s vine wall, her life still flashing before her eyes, “I thought I could use my acid at maximum viscosity to try and slow us down, but it made it so much worse…”
Ibara asks, “And, why are you guys all wet?” She lets them down from her vines as they recede.
They say in awkward unison, “We fell in.”
Ibara and Katsuki are both immediately suspicious.
Ms. Fukukado pulls up, “Mina! I got your text! How do you both fall in!?”
“Kiri fell first, and then he dragged me in with him!”
Kiri corrects her, “Not true! Mina pushed me in, then I pulled her in with me.”
Ibara and Katsuki both look at each other, remembering a very similar experience they had at Burnin’s Beach House.
Fukukado says, “Well I brought towels! So hop in already!”
Mina and Kiri hop in the back seat together, quickly bundling up with towels to finally stop shivering. Mina cries, “Fukukado, you’re the best ever!”
“I’m literally the one who drove you here, if you drowned or something, they’d probably revoke my teaching license. This is the least I could do!”
Katsuki lets Ibara take the front seat, while he sits next to the two soaking wet idiots. He has to admit though, “That was pretty fun…”