Chapter Text
One of the stranger pet peeves Kyouka has would be the way broken strings hang loosely on ripped jeans. It wasn’t until she wrapped the last remaining string to a hole in her pants around her finger that she noticed how much it bothered her. She tugged it, but there was no budging. If only there were a trusty pair of scissors nearby. But alas she was in her dad’s car, on her way to a new school that she’s hasn’t set foot in.
Her dad offered to drive her to school today, probably picking up on the anxiety Kyouka tried to hide. The radio was blasting at an “unscalable volume” as her mom would say; it was the way Kyouka and her dad always listened to music, however. At this moment, Kyouka could say that she sees where her mom was coming from. The music felt overwhelming.
“Are you ready for the first day of school!?” her dad said with enough enthusiasm for the both of them. Even over the speakers, he could talk effortlessly.
“This isn’t the first day of school. It’s just my first day.” She responded matter of factly; maybe a bit too snappy considering it was the root of her worries at the moment.
“Well, that’s not too different!”
“…yeah.” Watching through the window she could tell they were only about a minute away from the school. She tugged at the loose string one last time before deciding to tuck it in.
“Hey.” He said in a quieter tone than before. It’s the tone that always gets her looking in his direction. She meets his warm bronze eyes and a mess of hair that outgrew her own by inches. He was the juxtaposition of cool and dork.
“It’s gonna be fine, kid.”
They entered the school’s parking lot.
She smiled. “You don’t know that.”
“Oh but I do.”
“Okay”
“I’m serious.”
Five minutes before class started, Kyouka expected half, maybe three quarters, of the seats to be taken in her new class. Not for only two empty seats to be available.
A boy with oddly yellow hair bumped into her on his way entering the classroom. He immediately moved towards one of the two empty desks before thanking a different boy, with just as bright hair but red, for saving him a seat. He seemed completely unphased by the utter fullness of the class. It must have been normal for them. After all, this isn’t their first day of school.
That leaves only one other seat left. From where she was standing, she could only see the back of the person that she will have to undoubtedly sit with now. However, that was enough for her figure her desk-mate must be a real character considering his hair was red and white parted down the middle.
She sat down next to him because what use would be asking him be at this point?
It was still two minutes before class started and the noise was bouncing off the walls.
She turned to her desk-mate. She figured she should try building some sort of friendship with the guy.
Kyouka: What did we do the last week?
Desk-mate:
Kyouka:
Desk-mate:
Uh
Okay.
She turns to fully face him.
Kyouka: …uh hey
He looks up and turns to her with a piercing look in his eye.
Feeling slightly uneasy, she asks him once again. “What did we last week in class?”
He blinked a few times and then a moment of brief silence followed. He seemed to be surprised that someone talked to him. The boy opened his mouth.
Desk-mate: He just talked.
Kyouka:
Desk-mate: And last class we did an activity
Kyouka:
Kyouka: Oh okay
She figured there was no use trying to pry anything else out of the guy.
No less than a minute, the teacher came in. Sunken eyes, stubble, and tangles of long raven hair.
The class quieted down (for the most part).
As the teacher reached the center of the classroom a smile far too big and unnatural formed on his face.
Unsettled, she glanced at the boy next to her once again. He showed little to no expression.
“Glad to see I received zero parent complaints about yesterday’s activity.” He looked over to the yellow hair. She noticed the shape of a black lightning bolt in his bangs.
“No, dude, that was fun man.”
The fuck were they talking about.
An activity, huh.
The class falls into chatter once again.
In Kyouka’s old school when this happened, she normally found herself rolling her eyes at the ruckus, making a few remarks to the person next to her or a friend at the back of the classroom.
But she isn’t in the back, she’s in the very front row sitting next to a boy who seems to avoid saying more than five words at a time and she has no friends, so she’s now feeling an urgent desire to participate in whatever her classmates seem to be talking about.
She turned around in her seat. Sitting in the two seats was a cheerful looking girl with cheeks the shade of bubblegum talking the ear off of the blonde boy next her staring angerly into space.
She realized she hadn’t been paying attention to a single thing the girl was saying when the angry kid interrupted bubbles, saying “That would never fucking happen headass.”
His relatively vulgar language mixed with his unenthused tone toward bubbles was enough to keep Kyouka’s attention on the two, for better or worse.
“That’s why I said hypothetical Bakugou.” Bubbles rolled her eyes, seeming unbothered with what he said.
The girl’s eyes then moved on to Kyouka, and Kyouka realized how strange she must’ve seemed just watching the two talking.
Luckily the girl didn’t seem bothered, reaching her hand out in Kyouka’s direction in an attempt to get her attention and she said what sounded like her getting ready to ask a question:
Bubbles: Hey! New girl, you too Todoroki.
The boy of few words sitting next to her turned around in what felt like slow motion.
Bubbles: So you know how last class Mr. Yamada hooked a bunch of giant helium balloons to Kaminari?
No, Kyouka did not know that.
Kyouka: Wait, giant helium balloons as in…?
The girl’s eyes grew big,
Bubbles: Oh right! You weren’t here.
Bakugou’s face scrunched up, clearly criticizing her. She casually kicked his desk as she continued to talk.
Bubbles: They were these giant latex balloons, he said they’re used for aerial imaging.”
Kyouka: Aerial imaging? Isn’t that a geography thing? I thought Yamada was our English teacher?
Bakugou: That’s what I fucking said.
…Nothing is making any fucking sense.
Bakugou: Know what else? Those things cost a fuck ton of money to air up. Where the hell did that bastard get eight of those shitfucks? Fucking idiot.
Kyouka regretted opening the box of worms of whatever that was.
Bubbles: Anyways, what I was going to say is- what if Kaminari produced enough static to zap himself so hard that he popped one of those balloons?”
Bakugou: And I told you it wouldn’t goddamn happen because that’s not how static fucking works I swear sometimes you say shit that-
To Kyouka’s gratitude, their teacher (who she presumed wasn’t Yamada) called everyone back to attention.
Bakugou quickly quieted down while bubbles sympathetically rolled her eyes to Kyouka and the boy next to her.
Kyouka managed to pay absolutely no attention.
She’s met three of her classmates now and she wasn’t sure how she felt about a single one of them.
One of them won’t talk to her, one seems to hate everything, and the other had so much perk and friendliness that it almost felt intimidating.
Were these people she should try and befriend?
How is she supposed to do such a thing?
These thoughts only heightened when lunchtime came around. She looked for the bubbly girl at first, then Bakugou. Who she thought might be another way to find Bubbles. Then she looked for her desk-mate, who would have to be easy to spot with his dual-colored hair. She clung on to the minimum exchange she had with them as if her life depended on it (at this instance it felt like it).
She found Todoroki. She felt both relief and the need to vomit for a brief second before she registered he was already sitting with a group of friends. A boy with lively green hair, one with glasses who could’ve fooled Kyouka to be a full-grown adult, and then Bubbles.
She didn’t expect them to be friends, she’ll give them that.
Oh god, she would have to walk over there if she sat with them. What if they noticed? This is disgusting. She’s just going to go back to her old school. She can handle the 5-hour drive.
Todoroki looked up and before Kyouka could move, their eyes locked. His face looked just as expressionless as this morning except for his eyes, which looked wider than she remembered. She felt like she was being stabbed with empathy. She sat down at the table next to her, making sure her back was facing him.
Practically right as she sat down, a boy with bright yellow hair she recognized from her class sat in the seat exactly across from her. The boy that sat down with him was much shorter and purple hair that had a strange-looking texture. They both looked way too thrilled to be doing sitting with her.
Bolts smiled at her, offering her way too much attention. The colored bolt in his hair looked even stranger this close.
“Yo, what’s up.” He said while lifting his eyebrows unnaturally. Grapes just kind of looked…creepy.
Kyouka felt a relative kinship with Todoroki at this moment.
“Not much.”
“Mannn where is everyone- oh wait I see Bakugou!” Bolts proceeded to shout his name as loudly as possible.
Kyouka turned around to look for Bakugou, unsure of whether or not eating with him would be such a good idea.
He was walking a few tables away from where they sat and glaring at who knows what. Somehow he looks angrier than this morning. Bothering him would definitely be a bad idea right now.
She looked back at Bolts who was still shouting his name,hen looked to Bakugou who still hadn’t noticed them.
Finally, his eyes narrowed, and he turned to look at them. His face twisted in annoyance.
Okay. Definitely a bad idea.
Bolts, who was proving to be more and more tone-deaf by the second, shouted at him more. “COME ON DUDE, SIT WITH US.”
Bakugou flipped him off, face unchanging, but walked their way regardless.
He sat one seat away from her and threw his backpack in the seat between them. She felt like she should’ve found the notion rude, but she was nothing but grateful.
“The fuck do you want”
“Uhhh to hang out with my Bakubro, is that a cri- hey, you gonna eat that tempura?” he asked as he already reached to grab some of the shrimp in Bakugou’s lunch. His hand got slapped away, maybe a little harder than needed, but Bolts had it coming.
Bolts held the hand that was slapped away close to his chest. “Owie. Bakubro is such a meanie.” He said with a pout.
Bakugou’s glare deepened.
“I’ll fucking kill you duncefuck” He growled. Without moving, it felt like he was rising off his seat.
“If you keep wearing that pissed face no girls are ever gonna talk to you.” Grapes chuckled. Kyouka didn’t think grapes had any room to criticize the appearance of anyone else.
Bakugou’s threatening grip on the table, white knuckles and veins pulsating, left Grapes shrinking into his seat and Kyouka wondering how long it would take for Bakugou to inevitably snap.
She pulled out her lunch. If she was going to deal with this disaster she might as well have food in her stomach. Shuffling through her bag must’ve gained Bolt's attention. He looked her in the face and smiled.
Bolts: So,
Kyouka and Bakugou watched him with unfaithful caution. He still looked at her.
“Why did you enroll in school two weeks after it started?”
Kyouka felt bugs crawling under her skin. She felt two and a half pairs of eyes on her, waiting for an easy and simple answer. In pretty much every way it was.
But she couldn’t answer. Just thinking about it was making her body clam up.
It was just so…
“I was…”
“Woah is it something scandalous?” He fake gasped. Kyouka noticed the heat in her face.
Kyouka: What?
Bolts: You know, saucy.
Bakugou: You idiot, do you wanna get punched?
Kyouka, oddly thankful towards the threat: Seriously.
Bolts: Hey come on you can’t be mean to me yet we just met. I was just kidding jeez
To give him credit, he was easy to feel comfortable enough to banter with. She could get that feeling from him
Bolts: I have an idea
Bolts: Let’s go around and say our names for uhhh-
Kyouka: Jirou
Bolts: Jirou! Let’s go in a circle and say our names. Bakugou go first!
Bakugou: You just fucking said my name
Yellow: Oh right. Then Mineta why don’t you go?
Bakugou’s eye twitched.
Grapes: I’m Mineta.
He seemed adamant about staring at Kyouka. She decided to look at Bolts, who seemed to be the only person with a splinter of a welcoming attitude. He brought his hand to his chest.
Bolts: I’m Nobunaga
Kyouka:
Bakugou:
Mineta snickered.
Kyouka: Are you joking or
Bakugou: YES, HE’S FUCKING JOKING
Nobunaga: Yeah [chuckles], my name is actually Calamari
Kyouka: Is that right
Calamari: That reminds me, Bakugou what’s your first name? Kat-…Katsu…Katsudon?
White knuckles and enraged veins became visible once again, this time the table tilting up on the other side, which also meant their side of the table was leaning downwards as well. Kyouka held onto her seat. She glared up at Bakugou, who had gotten out of his seat at some point, trying to see if she could figure out what on earth was his problem.
Katsudon: YOU KNOW FUCKING DAMN WELL-
Kyouka sat in tension. Sure the guy was a floor of eggshells even in class, but he wasn’t this on edge. This yellow-haired guy seems to especially get under his skin and Kyouka is beginning to get the impression that he does it on purpose.
Needing to not be associated with anything happening around her, Kyouka tried to slip off the tilted chair and smoothly leave the scene as elegantly as possible. She didn’t. She clumsily rolled off the chair and stumbled her way out. From the looks of it, a teacher was on their way to the table.
The cafeteria had gotten reasonably louder within the last minute or so, many kids paying mind to Bakugou’s sudden rage-ridden super strength. The scene had already ended, the table on all it’s legs and Yellow leaning closer to a calmer but still very annoyed looking Bakugou, but it seemed to leave a lasting effect on everyone else. She needed space to breathe.
Her eyes were set on the door out of the cafeteria.
She made it out to the hallway graciously (and only graciously).
She sat on the floor and pulled out her lunch for the second time that day. She sighs to herself and looks both ways to make sure the hallway is truly empty.
“I think I overreacted.” She lets out to the dead air.
A few bites later.
“I could’ve stayed and made it through that conversation.”
Just a few bites left.
“Going back in now would probably be weird.”
The cafeteria door clunked as it opened.
“-m sure Aizawa will let us come to the class early as long as we don’t make any noise.”
Two bodies became fully visible. One of them was Todoroki. The other person was the boy he was sitting next to, full of bright and shining green. Her eyes are on them, waiting until the moment she’s noticed.
“We’ve eaten lunch in his classroom before.”
“Well yeah, but you can never be too-uhhh” The green-haired boy gaped at her for a second before smiling.
“Too loud?” He asked
Both boys were now staring down at her. Eating on the hallway floor.
Kyouka twisted a piece of her hair around her ear, a habit of hers she often did when talking to people she didn’t know well. A habit her parents pointed out (to no seriousness) rather often.
“Yeah.” Is all she said.
He chuckled lightly. His face curved in a way that made him look somewhat goofy and entirely genuine.
“I wish I could say it isn’t always like that but, well…”
“For someone who hates noise so much, Bakugou makes a lot of it.” Todoroki, who had been silent until now, said without looking directly at anything.
The other boy chuckled once again.
“You can spend the rest of lunch with us if you-
As he spoke several students began leaving the cafeteria in unison. Signing the end of lunch.
“-d like.” He weakly finished as he scratched his head, moving his wild green curls in several different directions.
He gave Kyouka a sympathetic smile that she couldn’t help but attempt to return.
So much for that.
*
It didn’t take too long for Calamari to be by her side once again. They were in class now. Kyouka looked around. No Bakugou insight.
Calamari: Hey do you think you could break this pen in your mouth?
Kyouka:
Kyouka: What?
Calamari: You know…like, crunch.
Kyouka: Are you an idiot?
He laughed.
Calamari: You’ve been around Bakugou too much.
A bold statement coming from him.
The classroom was still mostly empty, making Kyouka hyper-aware of every word coming out of their mouths.
He handed her a pen.
Calamari: Bet I can break this in my mouth before you can.
Before thinking she puts the pen in her mouth.
Kyouka: I would hope so. This isn’t something I’d want to win.
“But you accept the challenge.” He said, a toothy smirk forming around the pen in his mouth. At that moment he actually passed as rather cute.
She pressed her lips together in an attempt to preserve her smile.
Kyouka: No. I just need something to take my mind off my nerves.”
Calamari: [nodding] I can get that. The kids at this school are wild.
A funny statement from a boy currently grinding a pen in his mouth.
“Yo, you’re gonna have to bite harder than that.”
“Maybe I don’t want a mouth full of ink.” She said, though her teeth’ grip on the pen tightened. God, they probably look insane right now.
“Noticeth you lefth durin luntch” It was slightly more difficult to understand what he was saying.
“Uh ye-ah” She was too.
“Loud.” She tried to speak less. He nodded his head.
“Sar-y abouth that. It was kindof my follt.” He laughed. Kyouka smiled.
“Kind of?”
“Hey.”
“Where…is the rest of the class”
“Yeah.” Said a familiar voice from the back of the class.
Kyouka and Calamari jump. At that moment a loud crunch sounds in her mouth and a bitter, poisonous goo flows on her tongue. Without a second of thought, she brings her arm to her face and presses her tongue against the fabric of her shirt.
Shit shit shit shit shit
“Dude when did you get in here??!” Calamari’s full attention is on the person that had spoken from the back of the class. Todoroki. He was looking at her, eyebrows furrowed. She doesn’t think he heard Calamari.
The taste of iron and something much less pleasant stuck to her taste buds. The fabric she had her mouth on was no longer soaking up the ink so she moved her mouth higher up her sleeve and she could feel ink smudge across her face. Calamari says something but she isn’t paying attention to him. It doesn’t look like Todoroki is either since he’s still watching her and she needs to get out of here this can’t be happening this is so embarrassing she needs to leave before they notice and
Something warm drips down her chin. Todoroki’s eyes widen.
“Uh.”
shit
Calamari’s head tilts to the side and his shoulders perk up. As he turns to Kyouka, “Bro you have been staring at Jirou like she’s a ghost what gives- OH SHIT YOU BROKE IT”
She hears Todoroki shuffling through his bag in the distance.
Calamari gets out of his seat and walks closer to Kyouka. He nervously puts his fingers through his hair and holds them midair as if looking for something to grab.
“Uhhhhhh okay okay okay okay we can uhhh”
“I’ve got a water bottle and a first aid kit” said a slightly paler than usual Todoroki.
Why would you bring a first aid kit to school that doesn’t even make sense.
“She can gurgle it out with the water!!” Calamari pointed at Todoroki with shaky enthusiasm.
Kyouka was probably noticeably quick when getting up and rushing over to him to get the water bottle, herself. Pacing to the doorway of the classroom she realized there was one piece of critical information she lacked.
Where is the bathroom?
She turned around, hand on the knob, and looked at the two boys.
There really was no way to avoid this.
“BATHROOM” She said, ink going down her throat while also running down her chin.
The air felt awful on her tongue.
They both pointed behind her and just as quickly she opened the door and made a dash for it. That is, before she slammed into something.
She felt her nose pop. There was a noise of surprise. Not her, but a girl. Kyouka stumbles back and looks. Yup, she ran right into a girl she didn’t know. Her eyes were curious, expression concerned. Her hair was pulled back neatly. If Kyouka wasn’t horrified by the ink on the girl’s shirt from where she had run into her, then maybe she would’ve had time gush in silence but that’s not her life.
“SORRY” it sounds a lot more like an annoyed yell than an apology. She pushes past the poor girl and this time runs to the bathroom successfully. Her grip on Todoroki’s water bottle is exceptionally tight.