Chapter Text
Kirishima’s eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. Tapestries had been tacked to the walls in an attempt to cover up the slightly rotting wood and crumbling cement that threatened to cave in on them at any second. Posters of pop idols and famous icons were scattered across the already cluttered space. Carpets swamped the floor, none of them seeming to quite match with the next.
The girl slumped back against what seemed like the world's oldest couch, the color and texture having long faded out due to wear constant use. Throw pillows covered the worn cushions and helped to cover up the varying stains that made themselves present.
He anxiously tapped his foot against the ground, his eyes sweeping the room to look for anything that seemed potentially dangerous.
Kirishima’s anxiety did not go unnoticed by the girl, who motioned for him to come over and sit beside her on the couch. He did just that, sitting down politely on the space she had pointed to.
The clearing of a throat brought his mind spiralling back into reality. His head shot up and he made eye contact with the girl, his face breaking into a nervous smile.
Now that they were out of direct danger and they had a chance to sit down like normal people, Kirishima realized that he had no idea who the hell this girl was. The fact that she even helped him a moment ago surprised him.
A moment passed between them before the girl stuck her hand out, glittery embellishments from her fake nails twinkling as they caught the light.
“Ashido Mina!” she said all too enthusiastically, surprising him.
He reached his hand out slowly, taking her grasp within his own.
“K-kirishima Eijirou…” he said slowly, his mind going a mile a minute as he tried to think of what to say.
She pulled his hand towards her, craning her neck downwards to study the skin. He glanced around nervously, not really sure what she was doing. She mumbled something under her breath before pulling back and tilting her head.
“You’re not from around here.. Huh?” she asked, dropping his hand and letting it hang by his side.
He shook his head nervously, wondering just how in the hell she could tell that by just looking at his hand.
“Your hands are well taken care of, no scars and smooth skin,” she explained with a smirk, having noticed his visible confusion. She motioned to her own hands, and Kirishima could see what she meant. There were scars running across her knuckles, the skin flaking around the nail beds from lack of maintenance. He ran his thumb across the rough skin of her knuckles, marveling at the feel.
He had always been made to take good care of his body. If he had any injuries at all he would be sent to the healing chamber, where rays of light would reconstruct his skin cells till they were good as new. They must not have healing chambers down here, considering these were scars of injuries that took weeks to heal.
He dropped her hand, his face flushing as he realized he had been holding onto it for so long. The girl in front of him just laughed, clapping him on the shoulder as she leaned back into the soft cushions again.
“Don’t worry teeth, I won’t hurt ya,” she said with a giggle, running a hand through her tangled mane of hair.
He nodded, staring down into his lap as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He had no idea what to say to her, but he knew he had to say thank you for saving him.
“U-um… thank you for saving me back there…” he mumbled, glancing quickly up at her face and then back down to his lap. “I ran away from home and I-I figured I had to change my face so that I would fit in better-“ he began to ramble until he was cut off by Mina.
“Dude, don’t worry about it,” she grinned, giving him a reassuring thumbs up. “It doesn’t matter where you came from, alright? Just focus on the road ahead instead of looking back!”
He nodded at her words, instantly relieved. He ran his tongue across the backs of his teeth, marveling at how weird they felt in his mouth. Just changing his teeth wasn’t enough to blend in down here though, and he knew he had to change a lot more than his looks as well.
”Listen.. Kirishima, was it?” She said loudly, interrupting his thought process once more. “You probably don’t have anywhere to stay, yeah?” She jumped up off the couch and did a graceful spin in the open area in front of the couch.
“You see, i’ve been looking for a roomie for a while now! My friend Kaminari used to crash here but he finally got enough cash to get his own place, so i’ve been lonely,” she grinned, shooting finger-guns towards Kirishima. “Soooo… you wanna shack up with me?”
Kirishima stared at her with wide eyes, wondering how the hell she could just offer up a place in her home to someone she literally just met- but to be fair things were a bit different down here..
He stood up, grabbing her outstretched hand as a large toothy grin spread across his face.
“Hell yeah!”