Archive of Our Own

“Fucking Aneko.”

TapTapTapTapTapTapTap

The varying pitches bouncing off the dust-ridden table she violently tapped on was Kono’s only response. She had activated her quirk to make her tapping as annoying as possible.

“It’d be nice if my room felt like my room and not a hangout spot for her and her even worse friend.”

She threw her hands up and stared straight ahead. Nothing but the house’s small, unkempt porch and grass beyond it stared back.

She let her arms slump back to her side. She was angrier than what the issue called for. She knew that. Being alone in the heat to rant to herself was definitely enabling her.

She shifted her legs into a different sitting position. She had only been outside for a few minutes and already everything felt sticky. She felt her hair beginning to stick to the back of her neck, her hands grew clammy.

“I swear to god I can’t get any fucking peace around them. Is our room really that fucking great? No.”

She reached for her wrist only to realize there was no hairband around it. She threw her head back once again and let out an annoyed sigh (her mom always called them growls but they were very much just average sighs).

“Stupid.” -she called no one or thing in particular. Maybe it was a little bit of everything after. Everything was so stupid.

The way summer break had felt far too short, or how earlier that day in her English class she had been paired with a classmate for groupwork who seemed just as bad as making friends as Kono, getting math homework as early as her first week of school which she had no choice but to do outside since her sister and her friend offered any sort of peace and quiet. She hadn’t opened her notes yet. The heat of early autumn itched through her body.

Everything was so stupid.

“Stupid fucking Aneko with her loud friend. I’m surprised no one ever mistook any of them for a pack of chimpanzees.”

“Chimpanzees, huh.”

She froze. Her thoughts blank and fingers hanging over the table, leaving a suspicious silence to hang in the air. She’s now painfully aware of how loud she had been talking.

“Now that you mention it you guys can be rather loud sometimes.”

…

The voice came from above her, her neighbor’s balcony. It was the voice of a man, low and calm. Not at all the voice she’d expect from the short, messy-haired neighbor of hers with big round eyes. It certainly wasn’t the platinum-haired woman she’s seen outside their apartment complex in the mornings before school. Kono felt slightly on guard, not enough to do anything, but on guard nonetheless.

“You guys leave your window open from time to time”

Her neighbor was right. There wasn’t much air circulation in her and her sister’s room so they often had their window open or a fan turned on. She decided to engage with her neighbor.

“That isn’t me, it’s my sister and her friends that are always laughing and yelling over whatever they’re watching on her laptop.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

His short and monotone response irked her for a reason she couldn’t quite understand so she decided to continue.

“I can never get anything done around them.” Is what she went with. She thought she could hear her neighbor hum in understanding or maybe just to show he was listening.

Neither of them said anything after that. He could’ve gone back inside for all she knew. However, she had a feeling he didn’t.

She went back to tapping the table, this time she changed the pitch of each tap to make the tune of a song she couldn’t remember the title to. She tried to remember it as she worked on her homework at a slightly improved pace to before her conversation with her anonymous neighbor.

It was a few days later that Kono ended up going outside to her backyard porch right below her neighbor’s balcony once again.

She made sure to drop her schoolwork on the shaky table as dramatically as possible and let out a frustrated sigh before sitting in the accompanying chair. It creaked with every movement she made. A perfect set.

Why she was sitting out here?

She then remembered her sister and her friend who threw things at her if she told them to quiet down and her mother would get upset if she turned off the living room tv that was always at max volume despite her mom being in a completely different room. She was reminded that sadly enough, this seemed to be the only place she had any chance of being able to think to herself.

A bunch of laughter roared from above her that sounded a lot like Aneko’s. Seems like her neighbor was right. They were Really Loud.

She was extremely tempted to run back into her room to shut it. She wondered if her neighbor ever felt the same way. Probably not.

“Hey, you up there?” she called out.

There was a pause.

“I am.”

“What are you doing?”

He made a humming noise as if he had to think about it for a second before he undoubtedly replies with one or two words.

“Reading.”

…

“What are you reading?”

“A book.”

She rolled her eyes despite there being no way of her neighbor being able to see it. Continuing the conversation clearly being up to her, she changed the subject with the first thing that came to her head.

“Your voice is different than I expected.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah it’s too low.”

She didn’t mean to word it like that.

Regardless, he snorted, and to that, Kono felt herself smiling a bit as well.

“I see.”

Kono finds herself sitting outside more often. It was the only place she felt she could get away from her sister and whatever else could possibly annoy her. Somehow a small concrete square in her back yard assisted by a wobbly chair and table decorated in chipped paint was the only place she could be alone.

Well, with the exception of her neighbor who she was beginning to think never left his balcony. However, she couldn’t be bothered by his presence. He was quiet and strangely funny at times.

She sits in her small, concrete porch and stares at the mess of numbers scattered in an unorganized blob on her notebook. She couldn’t figure out where’d she went wrong with the equation. Scratching her head, she looked back and forth from her notebook and textbook. There’s no figuring it out. She sighs in frustration and decides to go the next problem for the time being.

A few seconds later she hears a loud sigh from above her. She looked up to the wooden paneling as if she’d be able to see her neighbor through it. Did he really just-

Still looking at the balcony, she sighed once again.

A few seconds passed.

Another sigh.

…

She sighed back.

…

And so did he.

They went back and forth like that until the screen of Kono’s window was slammed open and Aneko had stuck part of her head out as she told her to come in for dinner.

“Mom told me to tell you” she said. Kono couldn’t understand why her mom couldn’t have simply walked to the backyard to tell her (it probably would’ve been less steps too). There was also a part of her that was embarrassed over her sister yelling at her through a window (Kono had begun closing it in replacement of a much more effective fan), though she’d never admit it.

Kono came in to see the table already set with four teal plates. Everyone was already sitting down and eating. Her mom continued to move the condiments around the table. Aneko was just staring at nothing in particular and minding her own business for once. Kono started eating her food in what her mom always called “stabbing her plate”.

“Kono stop that you’re stabbing the plate.”

Aneko snorted.

She received a glare in return.

“Say Kono, have you made any friends at school yet?” her mom asked hopefully.

Her family’s attention was now on her. It made her itch.

The brief silence seemed to be enough of an answer for her mom as she nodded her head and patted her shoulder.

She heard a mocking sigh across from her.

“I’ve told her she could hang out with me and my friends, but alas she never does.”

“Like I’d want to hang out with you and Unko. She’d ask to have some of my food or gawk over some loser.”

She felt a sudden sharp kick to her shin. By reflex her knee jerked up, banging into the table. “Ow!” Her voice cracked into a strange squeal. Her mom called her sister’s name with shock in each syllable.

“Stop calling her that!” Aneko said, paying no attention to her mom.

Kono used her uninjured leg to push her seat back.

“Kono!” Her mother now called to her

With a glare, Aneko pulled her chair back to the table.

This wasn’t over.

Kono breathed in.

“Unko-Unko-Unko-Unko-Unko-Unko-

“What are you, five?” she interrupted Kono, only for it to overlap.

“Both of you stop now.”

Their mother’s tone snaps both of them up. Their father seems to barely notice anything is happening. The two sisters sit up straight in their seats. Neither of them knew how their mother was able to do that.

“Now apologize”

The two murmur lousy apologies that somehow managed to gain their mother’s approval.

As soon as they get back up to their room they begin bickering again.

The next day at her backyard porch Kono could’ve sworn she heard her neighbor humming to the same tune she always beat with her pencil.

“Hey, do you know what song this is?” she decided to ask.

“No.”

“But you’re humming to it, getting the right pitches and everything. You must have at least heard it before.”

“It’s possible.”

“Wh- you respond to things weirdly.”

He hummed, almost in a sort of agreement.

“I’ve been told that before.”

“Hey, what’s your name?” Kono asked as she rubbed her finger over a part of her sweater she had gotten pen on. The air felt nice. The weather was finally beginning to cool down.

“Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking that?”

“I don’t know, do you know mine?”

“No.”

“Well as neighbor’s, shouldn’t we know?”

“I guess.”

…

Ignoring her neighbor’s non-yes and non-no response, Kono continued.

“I’m Nakajima.”

“Todoroki.”

She vaguely remembers a small notecard on top of a plate of katsudon with the name Todoroki written on it along with a different name that she couldn’t remember from several months ago.

She looked up at the paneling of the balcony above her with a smile. She let out a breath of content. She now knew the name of her strange neighbor-acquaintance-friend-ish.

“See.”

“…see what?”

“It’s better.”

“Ah.”

And they went back to beating and humming the tune to the song they couldn’t name in unison after that. Todoroki would deny he was humming, but Kono knew she heard him.

The fall breeze never felt so welcome.

Walking back from school one day, Kono bumps into two men at the staircase in her apartment complex. She stared at them for a moment, her eyes narrowed in confusion. One of them had messy green hair and freckles dotted across his face. His face was turned to the other guy, someone Kono felt like she should’ve noticed was living above her.

He had a burn scar that covered the skin around his left eye, heterochromatic eyes of teal and grey that reminded her of a calm stormy day, and hair that was perfectly split into two different colors down the middle. How is this the first time she can remember bumping into him?

Heterochromatic eyes fell onto her and Kono felt her knees buckle. She watched the two. The green haired neighbor tuned to where the other was looking after noticing where his eyes had been focused. And then there were two pairs of eyes on her. As soon as green hair noticed Kono his mouth curved into a smile that somehow reached his entire body. The idea of him being the person she talks to on the balcony now feels entirely Impossible.

He jumped down the stairs, to which the man with dual colored hair and eyes mumbled a “don’t” that went ignored.

“You’re the youngest Nakajima, right? I’m glad I could finally meet you!” Oh, I was way wrong. This was one hundred percent not the person she had been talking to on the balcony.

Before Kono realized she should respond, he continued.

“Oh uh, I already met your mom and sister! We brought over katsudon when we first moved here quite a few months back, so I already knew your name. Oh-and I’m Izuku Midoriya! This is-

He looked up to the side of the dual haired man, who had walked down the stairs and to Midoriya’s side at some point. Midoriya seemed to be checking to see if the other wanted to interject. Neither of them said anything, but Kono felt there was some sort of communication that just happened in front of her.

“This is Shouto Todoroki. He helped with the katsudon. Right, Shouto?” They both look to Todoroki. If he feels put on the spot he doesn’t show it.

“I thought you said you didn’t know my name.”

Looking back and forth between the two of them, Midoriya begins to ramble.

“Wait you guys already met? I-uh guess I should’ve considered that ha but I’m a little surprised you’ve introduced each other -and Shouto, how did you forget our neighbor’s name?”

Shouto, the dual haired man, who has yet to say something since the start of this encounter, shrugged.

“I forgot.”

“She’s really noisy. I can hear her from the balcony.” He decided to add.

Up the staircase and past her neighbors their door opens. Out steps a woman with platinum blonde hair, layered and to her shoulders.

“Sorry I took a while. Natsuo wanted my advice on defrosting poultry.”

“It’s okay Todoroki-san! We ran into the last Nakajima!” Midoriya called to her.

Kono stared up at the girl. She’s also a Todoroki?

When walked up to Kono she put her hand out as she wore a polite smile. Her eyes were a kind, vibrant grey. They shook hands and Todoroki greeted herself similar to Midoriya.

Todoroki poked the woman’s arm. “Wait, Fuyumi, I actually forgot my phone upstairs could you go back and get it.”

“Wha-you have two working legs.”

His eyebrows furrowed and his face sat in a small pout. he argued, “Yeah but you were the last one out.”

Her hand now on her hip, her face holding no real annoyance or meanness, “You’re the one who forgot it inside.”

He was now turned to her, as soon as he opened his mouth, ready to argue with her further Midoriya interjected.

“Ah-I can go get it, it’s okay. I think I remember seeing it in the kitchen next to the blender.” And he was up the stairs before the others could say anything.

Feeling relatively out of place in the scene before her, Kono used this moment to sneak inside her house.

She crept up to her room where her sister was hunched over her laptop in bed. She was relieved to see she was alone. The light from her laptop emphasized the red dryness of her irritable nose and bored brown eyes. She looked up to Kono, who was still standing by the door.

“Where the hell have you been?” She asked with no bite or energy.

“I just met the neighbor’s upstairs”

“Really? Just now?”

“Yeah”

“They’re kind of weird” Kono added

Her sister snorted.

“I’m sure they could say the same thing about us.”

Her thoughts went back to the porch and the balcony above it. How it must be to always hear beats against the paneling of the apartment’s outer walls and frequent sighing. What it must be like to have a neighbor you never really see talk to you every day. She thought of  the sighing back, humming, and almost passive way of turning pages and smiled.

“It’s not like it’s a bad thing.”

The next time Kono is out in her porch she feels the need to inform Todoroki on her recently discovered misconceptions.

“I thought you were Midoriya”

“Really? Why?”

She shrugged, despite knowing he couldn’t see her.

“You don’t look like someone who casually talks to people from a balcony”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Also I forgot you even lived there.”

That made him laugh. It encouraged her to continue.

“I mean I see your friend and wife outside the complex but never you.”

“My what.”

The next time Kono opens her backyard door she’s hit by a spirited laugh and the vague scent of coffee.

She could immediately tell she wasn’t alone. Well, that it wasn’t just her and Todoroki telling by the pitch of the previous laugh. Meaning today Midoriya must’ve been up there as well.

Reluctantly, she moved to sit in the stray chair on her porch. When she put her textbook on the table it wobbled back and forth, making a clicking noise Kono hadn’t noticed before. Feeling oddly intrusive, she opened her textbook, trying to zone out of the others conversation.

“Bullshit” her ears twitched to the word, she was cold, and now fully aware of her neighbors, nervous and unsure of what was going on.

Then came a sigh that she knew all too well by this point and a gleeful chuckle from the other.

“I really hate this game.” She heard Todoroki, “You always know when I’m lying”.

“That’s because you make this funny face.”

Todoroki makes faces?

“I don’t make faces”

“You totally do! Your lip does this twitchy thing and your eyebrows furrow for like a millisecond before going back to normal.”

“I don’t do that.”

There was a sound of a chair scratching the wooden balcony as Midoriya said “Yes you do!”

“I do not.”

Kono got the small feeling they’ve had this conversation before.

Suddenly a small itch reached Kono’s nose that grew and grew. No, no, no, please no.

Not listening to a single one of her pleas, her body, and the continuous cooling air helped her let out a great sneeze.

Shit.

“Oh.” Was the first thing she heard from the balcony and surprisingly, the short response wasn’t from Todoroki.

…

“I thought I heard you down there, but you were being quieter than usual.” Todoroki added seconds later.

“Wait what’s going on?”

Kono sat quietly, feeling mildly embarrassed for no good reason this was her backyard too and her porch.

“It’s the youngest Nakajima. I think.”

She continued to listen.

“You think?” She could hear the smile in Midoriya’s voice as he pestered.

“Yeah.”

There was a brief pause.

“Hey-uh Nakajima! Sorry if we were being too loud.”

Clearing her throat, Kono replied “It’s okay” so quietly she would be surprised if either of them heard her. Maybe they didn’t. Midoriya seemed to be good at rolling with any sort of conversation, so she couldn’t be sure, but it would sure make sense considering how well he seemed to get along with Todoroki.

“What are you doing down there? It’s getting kind of chilly out here.”

“We’re outside” she barely managed to hear Todoroki murmur. There was the sound of a chair scratching wood again, as if it had been pushed. “Hey.” Todoroki said with so little irritation and annoyance in his voice that Kono had to cover her mouth to hide a laugh.

Midoriya continued.

“Do you have a jacket on? There’s been a bug going around at my workplace. I can only imagine it’s worse at school.”

…

“Yeah I’m okay. I’m wearing a jacket.”

The friendliness and strange concern her neighbor showed left her quieter than normal. Her small square porch began to feel smaller as her chest tightened. The grass beyond her porch was touched by a light white. She should be inside.

“Sorry if I was eavesdropping.” She found herself barely whispering.

“Oh no we were just playing cards! This is both of our backyards either way so there’s nothing to feel bad about.”

“Yeah it would’ve been strange if you didn’t come out here sooner or later”

Feeling unwelcomely emotional, she replied to the two of them with “Oh okay”, a stupid and short reply.

Midoriya and Todoroki went back to playing their card game. While she tried to study, most of her attention was to the murmured numbers and occasional “bullshit”’ (to which Midoriya was always spot on while Todoroki was only able to call out the other’s bluff half of the time) above her. Midoriya would talk to her or ask her something in between those numbers. Her and Todoroki even fell into one of their sighing exchanges, which left Midoriya sounding mildly confused and worried. The smell of coffee slowly faded, and the sound of three sniffling noses became abundant.

“I think we should go inside.” Midoriya concluded. And the three of them did.

Kono begins to notice Todoroki and Midoriya together and around the complex a lot more often after that day.

Sometimes she’d see them leaving the house on her way to school in which they would tell her goodbye, Todoroki often sneaking in “don’t skip” or “don’t drop out” in a monotone voice that would often have her double glancing at them as she walked off.

The two of them are always shoulder to shoulder. Close.

Kono stops going to her room right after school, knowing she’ll end up out on the porch regardless. She sighs and beats the same tune on the ever-wobbling table and Todoroki responds. From time to time Midoriya will be up there as well, who fills the ambient noise that’s normally between her and Todoroki. She found herself enjoying being there either way. It was just a different form of pleasant company. She’d have to admit listening to the two of them together could be fun at times.

They were an interesting pair and being around them was oddly heartening. Maybe it was because no one else was all that willing to talk to her. She didn’t really care.

There was a weekend in which Kono was leaving the house with her mom to go grocery shopping. Apparently, she didn’t leave the house enough. As they walked out the door Aneko dashed over to them, asking their mom to get a million little things. Before their mom could respond, Kono took it upon herself to tell her sister no. Her and Aneko briefly bickered before their mom pushed Kono out the door and closed it.

She huffed as they both stood outside in the chilling air. Winter had snuck up on them.

The sound of keys falling on old wood drew the attention of Kono and her mother up the staircase to the second floor of their apartment complex.

There stood Todoroki and Midoriya.

Midoriya quickly went to grab the keys, standing back up so quickly it left his hair looking askew and messier than usual.

“Hey Nakajima!” he smiled, tugging on Todoroki’s coat as if saying Shouto look, it’s the owner of the apartment. Don’t forget them this time.

“Hello.” Todoroki said, lacking any of the chipper Midoriya convicted. His narrow eyes hovered over to Kono.

“And where are your drumsticks?”

…

She has no idea what he’s talking about. Midoriya, who is on the step behind him looks very confused as well.

Was he…talking about her quirk?

“Have you guys met already?” her mother’s voice chimed in. She didn’t have to turn to look at her to know her mom’s eyebrows were pinned together in skepticism.

“Yes. She’ll talk to me outside when I’m reading on the balcony sometimes.” He stated blankly, face unmoving.

For whatever reason, Kono felt somewhat shy.

“Kono I hope you aren’t bothering the poor man.”

“Wha- I-

She stopped when she noticed the playful smile her mother wore.

Mildly annoyed, she turned her head to the ground. Adults are so fucking weird.

“She’s not a bother.”

…

“Just noisy.”

God, she hated his humor.

A disturbing phenomenon had begun occurring. At some point Kono’s mom had become friends with Midoriya.

As she came home from school, she would often see them sitting on the staircase chatting away.

They would both greet her.

Often, she would even get wrapped up in their conversation somehow.

Her mom had even gotten her to help Midoriya and the Todorokis packing Fuyumi’s things as she prepared to move out, which was to her utmost confusion.

Gently pressing against the lump in her tied up hair, Kono slid a bobby pin between her fingers. She slowly lifted both hands as if for effect. That or wavering patience.

The lump was still there.

“Goddammit” she mumbled, pulling out the bobby pin and ready to give it another try.

“You’re doing it wrong.” Aneko taunted behind her.

“Shut up.” Kono instinctively snapped. “It’s a bobby pin. There is no wrong way.” She slid it into her hair once again. Lump still present.

“Just put a second one in”

Kono didn’t reply.

“Wear your hair down if you can’t pin it up”

She continued to ignore her sister.

“You’re gonna be wearing a hat either way in this weather.” Aneko continued as she walked back in forth in their room looking for garments that looked warm enough for walking around in hours for. They were getting ready to go to the Sapporo Snow Festival.

“God, just stop with the bobby pin. You’re stressing me out.”

“Then don’t look at me.” Kono found herself saying cattier than she meant to.

God the lump is still there.

Before she could take out her bobby pin once again a piece of clothing hit her head, leaving the room dark for a quick second. All she could think at that moment was her hair.

Kono grabbed the clothing from her head, shaped it into a ball and turned to through it at Aneko with as much force as she could. It didn’t have much effect. In anything it did the opposite of what Kono was trying to do. Aneko laughed when it hit her shoulder.

Not knowing what else to do to express her anger towards Aneko, she turned back to the mirror on the floor she was sitting in front of and dramatically pulled out the hairband from her hair.

Now I have to do everything over.

She ended up settling with a braid in the front part of her hair and then putting the rest in a ponytail. It seems to be the only thing she can competently do with her hair. Now all that’s left is getting dressed.

When she turned around from the wall where her mirror sat, she noticed that Aneko was fully dressed. Hat, coat, scarf, boots, earmuffs, and everything. She looked good too. Despite how large all the clothing looked it still seemed to fit her well. Even if Kono spent twice as much time getting ready (which is looking like a possibility at this point) she probably wouldn’t end up looking anywhere near as nice. How annoying.

To make matters worse Aneko’s one and only friend, Junko, bursts in seconds later. Junko, who’s dressed in fitted pants, a peach colored coat that compliments her ashen brown hair that fell into loose curls over her shoulders.

“Why are you even here Unko she could easily just meet you at the festival.” The girl’s eyes narrowed immediately.

“It’s Junko, matt head”

“Whatever, Unko.” She said with one of her hands going up to her hair before she thought not to.

She brought her hand down as quickly as possible and stood up to divert the attention. She had to find something to wear regardless.

She was more conscious of her clothing than she could ever remember being at this point. This would be the first time any of the girls from her class asked her to hang out with them after all.

All her jeans fit loosely and were washed down. Her one pair of leggings had a small hole on her knee. The hole was barely noticeable and never bothered Kono until today. Today, looking at it made her feel messy and disheveled. There’s no way she could wear them.

Attention would be on her more than it normally is. Maneku, the girl who invited Kono, asked her if she would like to go to the festival with her and her friends. Friends who Kono has never met (she hardly knows Maneku).

Kono looked over to Aneko’s side of the room. She and Unko were standing beside her bed, laughing at a video on Unko’s phone. Being next to each other, Kono could now tell the two were matching. Aneko’s hat was the same peach color of Unko’s coat and Unko’s hat was the same off-white as Aneko’s coat. Their clothes always seemed to look nice. But there was no way Kono was going to ask her sister for a pair of her jeans. Not a chance. Especially not in front of Unko.

Instead she pulled her darkest pair of jeans from her drawer, found a long-sleeved shirt and a turtle neck that weren’t that important to her considering she’d be wearing a coat all night anyhow. She hugged all her clothing to her chest as she left the room and entered the bathroom down the hall to change.

When she came back to her room she pulled her coat out from their closet. It was a light teal color with salmon colored stitching. It zipped up to her neck, covering the turtleneck she had picked out. Kono looked at the mirror she had previously used to do her hair. The coat looked like it was about to swallow her whole.

“Oh my god. Relax. Everyone is gonna look stuffed in this freezing weather. Stop with the angry puppy face.”

Kono’s head snapped to her sister. She was nonchalantly twirling a part of her hair in her finger, her facial expression serious but light. It was frustrating.

“I am relaxed.”

Aneko snorted without saying anything further. Unko laid on Aneko’s bed, completely absorbed in whatever was on her phone. That didn’t stop her from commenting as well though.

“Are you done getting ready now? I could really use some hotate about now.”

“I’ve been ready.” Kono relented as she walked to the door. The other two were on her heels. “That’s a fucking lie.” Aneko deadpanned before laughing at her own comment. Kono turned to face her. “I was taking my time getting ready because I thought you guys were still getting ready.”

“You weren’t even dressed when I got here.”

“This literally took me two minutes to put on.”

And the conversation dissented into arguing until they got the living room area where Kono’s mom sat happily waiting to see them out before they went to the festival. She rushed over, smiling at all of them before she focused on Kono.

“Sweetie, where are your earmuffs? Or hat?” Her eyebrows were furrowed and eyes big with worry. Kono avoided contact.

“I don’t need them.” Earmuffs will only make her face look even rounder which her jacket had already done a good job of doing and she had lost her favorite hat a while ago.

“She doesn’t want to mess up her hair.” Aneko interjected teasingly.

“Shut up! Shouldn’t you pack some Vaseline since your gonna be in the cold for so long?” Aneko’s hand instantly went to her nose.

“If you didn’t cut your own hair in the bathroom it wouldn’t be so choppy and a lot easier to put up, genius.”

“Okay, both of you stop. Now.”

A stilted silence fell among all of them.

“I can go get her earmuffs. I think I remember seeing them on one of the dressers handles” Unko offered, pointing down the hall.

Her mom thanked Unko tiredly. While Unko skipped down the hall to the girls’ room, Kono and Aneko’s mom put a hand on both their shoulders.

“Please don’t argue the whole way to the festival.” Her eyes narrowed into a stern plea, moving their gaze from Kono to Aneko. Something in her stare left Kono’s shoulders sinking. She nodded her head. Based on her mother’s eventual smile, Kono assumed Aneko had done the same.

“I found them!” Unko shouted as she skipped down the hall back towards the three. Kono’s mom turned towards her, smile changing to a polite gesture.

“God bless you, Junko.”

Once she reached her mom Unko balanced herself on her heels, slightly swaying. “It’s no bother, I’m glad to help” she chirped, returning her mother’s smile. Kiss ass.

Kono took the earmuffs from Unko and the three girls left. When Kono first told her mom she planned on meeting Maneku and the girl’s friends at the festival, she was adamant on her going with Aneko and Unko on her way there. It would be nice, she said.

The three of them walked to the nearest bus stop and stood waiting for what felt like an eternity.

After a few minutes passed by someone would sniffle their nose every few seconds. It was the only noise that filled the air between them. It was far too cold, even for Aneko and Unko to be their annoying selves.

“Hey, let’s play a game until the bus comes.”

Looks like she spoke too soon. Regardless, Unko had caught the other two’s attention.

“I got it! Let’s play mercy.”

“No.” Kono and Aneko said in unison.

Already moving on, Unko says “Simon says.”

“Too much moving.”

“Okay uhhh, concentration.”

…

She didn’t get a response.

“Okay fine. Let’s freeze in silence then.”

Kono begrudgingly thought it was a good idea to play a game. Seeing her breath was only entertaining for so long and she could no longer feel her face or feet. On top of that it would probably take the bus another five minutes before getting their stop.

“I’ll play.”

Unko blinked dumbfoundedly. “Really?”

“Yeah but I can’t remember how to do this. I haven’t played since I was seven.” It was meant to be a jab, but Unko responded with the shrug of a shoulder before saying “Better chance of me winning.”

Soon enough the bus arrived and Aneko had been brought back to life. She conversed with Unko the entire ride, nothing like the wait at the bus stop. Kono tuned in and out of the conversation from time to time.

It’s been a while since she’s been around them for such a long period of time. She couldn’t stand either of them and especially together. Maybe it was the cold getting to her brain and the chance of friendship with girls from her class, but Kono found herself hating her sister’s company just a little less than usual.

As soon as the bus reached Odori Park, Kono separated from Aneko and Unko and walked amongst the snow-covered park and the various stands and ice sculptures that decorated it. She walked aimlessly, waiting for Maneku to finally tap her on the shoulder and say something like “There you are!”

That’s not what happened, however. Instead, she somehow bumped into Aneko and Unko again against all odds. They were both eating hot mochi. Unko had the grilled hotate she wanted in her other hand. Kono could see the steam coming out of the cups they ate from. It looked so good right about now.

“You sure someone invited you?” Unko teased.

Kono turned around in hope she would spot Maneku. She was typically a hard person to miss. Her hair was dyed a reddish blonde and often wore dark lipstick.

What if Unko was right? What if Kono had been asked as a prank. Would someone really do that?

“She was joking.” Aneko said, bringing Kono’s attention back to the two. Kono’s cheeks heat up in embarrassment when she realizes she had visibly been fazed by Unko’s words.

“You’re joking.” She said, quickly turning her back to the two and walking away. Not before she heard a “What?”.

It was then that she saw Maneku in the distance. Her lipstick was a violet red today. There were two girls next to her. One had hair that barely passed her ears; It was loosely curled. The other girl had long hair that fell down her back and bangs that draped over her eyes.

Kono froze on the spot. They haven’t noticed her. Meaning she’d have to walk up to them.

Nope. Not gonna happen.

She can’t just walk up to them.

They’re already conversing and having a good time.

They don’t need her there to interfere.

“What are you doing?” Aneko asked, somehow now standing beside Kono. When did she get there?

Aneko followed Kono’s gaze and noticed the three girls she was staring at.

“Aren’t you going to talk to them?” She pressed further.

“Yeah why are you just standing here?” Unko, now on the other side of Kono, added (for whatever reason). She gave her a questioning look similar to Aneko’s.

I can’t go.

Kono didn’t respond to either of them.

Aneko let out a humorously melodramatic sigh.

“What a waste of bobby pins.”

Kono’s head turned to her sister in a flash.

“Don’t you guys have something you wanna do here other than get on my nerves?” They both smiled. Assholes.

“I was going anyway.” Kono said defensively as she began walking over to the girls, ignoring all the twisting her stomach was doing.

The girl with long bangs was the first to notice her walking up to them. She stared at Kono blankly for a few seconds before she poked Maneku’s shoulder and pointed to Kono. Maneku caught eye of her.

Kono felt like she was in the middle of a flight or fight response.

Maneku slightly raised her hand to give a small, not entirely reassuring wave. Her rosebud lips were curved into a smile that left Kono thinking that maybe…just maybe, her nerves were getting the best of her.

“Good you’re here. Now we can finally get soba.” She said with a honeyed tongue.

She begins walking, the friend without the long bangs quickly hopping over to her side. She had plump cheeks and a button nose. Both of which looked (frustratingly) pokable.

Kono isn’t even sure how she ended up walking behind the two. She avoided stepping in their shoe prints on the surprisingly clean snow. She could hear it crunch under their feet.

The other girl was walking next to Kono with a noticeable distance between her. She was avoiding looking in Kono’s direction, the only part of her face being viewable throughout the whole walk being her how her bangs that wisped across her eyelashes. Neither of them said anything.

The footprints of Maneku and who Kono had learned went by “Kikai” began overlapping other footprints once they got closer to the food stands.

Standing in line, watching Maneku and Kikai’s heads move as they conversed left Kono nothing to focus on other than the dry, cold air that swept across her pink ridden face. It was discomforting and her nose was beginning to burn from the fabric of her gloves rubbing against it every time her nose got a little too runny. She’s on her way to looking like Aneko at this point.

“You can go before me.” The taller girl standing next to her said, the words floating in the cold air now filled with the scent of warm soba. Maneku and Kikai’s heads moved.

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” she said, pretending to fix her earmuffs even though they probably, actually were misplaced. The girl only nodded.

Once the four of them reconnected, all happily eating soba, they began walking once again.

“Hey Kono” Finally, Maneku turned slightly to look at her. Her eyes were the same gold as wrapped chocolate coins.

The other two were now looking at her as well, Kikai and Maneku both smiling.

“You sit next to Niko in English, right?”

…

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever talked to him?”

Kono’s never talked to anyone in that class, including the boy that sat next to her. The boy in which the only two things she remembered him by was his name and spikey dark hair and she had no idea why he was being brought up right now.

“Not really.” Kono shrugged, taking a sip of her soba.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Maneku’s lips were now pressed into a thin line, curved into a smile that was a few words away from faltering.

“Is there anyone you like?” The question cut through the cold air and chilled something inside Kono. Something. Something felt wrong.

“I-…no” she stammered defensively, heat rising to her face. She couldn’t say why. There really wasn’t anyone she liked. Her legs felt like lead and her throat tightened.

This feeling was embarrassment.

“Woah look, this year they have an ice sculpture of the house from Up” the taller girl next to Kono had completely diverted.

And indeed, there it was, perfectly sculpted on the side of a mountain of ice. The shape of hundreds of balloons. The simple two-story house. They even had the short old man standing on the porch with a boy of an almost equal height beside him.

They walked up to large ice sculpture. It was among many others, but none were as large or captivating. Lights of teal and grey hung over all the displays and Kono took in the sight as she felt herself calm down.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to the girl who has been walking next to her the whole night, her bangs hiding most of her eyes. Just with the little bit of her eyes that Kono could see, her tranquil gaze was enough.

She pointed to the teal and grey lights above them. Kono looked up to see if anything had changed since she last looked at them. There hasn’t. She was about to tell her she already noticed them.

Before she could, the lights began blinking. Different bulbs every time. And she swore she heard music play from them as the lights danced in synchronization to the tune.

“It’s kind of like your quirk”

…

“You were tapping against your soba bowl earlier. It was cool”

Kono couldn’t think of how to respond and ended up staring at the girl instead.

“My name’s Mirai.” She added bluntly. Mirai then smiled. Sort of.

“Hey it looks like the line is slowing down at the ice sled rink, let’s go!” Kikai prodded. She was met with lukewarm “sure's” and “okays” by the rest of them.

Once again Kono was walking to the side of Mirai, now a little closer. Or maybe that part was in her head.

The lights reflected onto the passing people and colored the snow, both touched and untouched. Kono found herself observing it all. Looking around is all that she could do. The lights tiptoed on top of the many passing heads. They eventually landed on a familiar green, red, and white on the opposite side of the street. It was Midoriya and Todoroki.

Her Midoriya and Todoroki.

She realized she had been staring too long once Midoriya noticed her. His smile reached the rest of his face. How he was so happy to see her, she had no idea. Regardless, she couldn’t help but smile back.

He then pulled at Todoroki’s arm, allowing Kono to realize the two were holding hands. There was about an inch worth of warm cotton in between their joined hands, it almost looked a little clumsy. Todoroki titled his head to Midoriya. Most of his hair was tucked in a grey knitted hat with strands that had escaped around his eyes and behind his ears.

Midoriya pointed in Kono’s direction and Todoroki smiled at her. While it wasn’t as large as Midoriya’s, it was just as warm. He waved at her, and she found herself waving back until she felt the peering eyes of one of the girls she just remembered she had come with. Mirai was staring at her.

“Friends of yours?” she asked, sounding the least bit interested.

“Y-yeah. They’re neighbors of mine.” She responded, feeling slightly embarrassed after being watched.

Mirai stared at the passing Midoriya and Todoroki, who were now blending in with other bodies in the distance. Something about it weirded Kono out.

“Do you…know them?”

“No.”

…

“Oh.”

“I just think it’s nice is all.”

Her eyes furrowed in a knowing confusion. Mirai continued to stare in their direction, where she’s sure they are still holding hands.

“Think what is nice”

Her eyes moved to Kono, and a small smile showed itself.

“It.”

…

“Huh?”

“Mirai! Kono! What are you guys doing?”

The two girls looked up to notice Maneku and Kikai were standing a few meters away from them.

When did that happen?

They sped walked to the other two and the night continued in a similar rhythm. A night of tuning out conversations, sometimes being nudged into talking. Ultimately, she felt like she had failed. Failed at what, she doesn’t know. Maybe it was everything.

The next time Kono was outside her feet were cold. She probably should’ve listened to her mom and put socks on. Just another thing to realize she was wrong about.

It was a Sunday afternoon and it was the time of year when the weather fails to realize its already spring. If anything, the world still felt frozen.

The image of hands in thick, stuffy mittens joined together replays in her head. And Kono thinks this might as well be the first time she’s ever stepped foot on her balcony.

The cold air only felt worse as her face heated up. Her head began aching and her eyesight became blurry. This was stupid. She didn’t even know what she was upset about. She didn’t know anything about anyone.

Rubbing her eyes before anything fell, and wiping her nose as silently as possible, she activated her quirk and tapped a rhythm onto the table. Anything to distract herself from her stupid emotions.

“Nakajima?” she heard above her. Todoroki was up there. Obviously.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

“Your tapping is completely undecipherable.” He added.

Oh.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Kono didn’t add anything else and hoped that they would just continue sitting in silence, and that Todoroki would forget he ever asked and pretend that her tapping was normal and sounded like an actual song tune.

There was also a small part of her that wanted to talk to her neighbor. Even if only a little. Maybe she should try.

“My feet are cold.”

So that was a mistake.

“Ah.”

You know what, she was going to decide to ignore how insane she just sounded and push forward.

"I mean…what I mean is that I feel kind of stupid right now. My mom told me to put socks on but I didn't listen. So I'm unprepared to be outside. But you know what I'd still rather sit out here than in the house, because then I'd have to be around my sister and her unbearable friend who are practically inseparable. Watching two such irritating people getting along so well is nauseating.”

Kono paused, unsure of why she let out this rant and what to say after it.

Her tapping became sporadic.

"Doesn't sound very fun." the bland statement was enough encouragement for Kono to continue.

"It isn't. And I had to sit with them for a whole ten minutes when we went to Odori Park on top of having to get ready with them at home. 'what a waste of bobby pins'- shut up Aneko, no one cares.”

Pausing, she heard Todoroki snort. Kono smiled a little bit too.

It wasn't funny though. She was ranting. Nothing about this was funny at all.

"Siblings are the worst" he agreed with a fondness in his voice that definitely disagreed.

"See, you get it."

Her tapping’s inconsistency turned into meaningless noise, with nothing of substance coming out.

"...and yet I feel like that was the better part of my night."

Finally, the beats began to slow. To the point of almost stopping entirely.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

...

"Why?"

"I don't know." She lied.

She had to add something before Todoroki shortly replied.

"It's just...those girls...that was the first time anyone has asked me to do anything with them after school as... friends I guess..."

He was quiet. Kono assumed he was waiting for her to continue.

"But I clammed up really bad... I barely said anything and then they started asking these questions that made me feel like they didn't actually ask me to the festival because they genuinely wanted to befriend me."

"I just wish I was better with people, I guess. All I could do was think.” The moment she said it out loud she wished she hadn't. It sounded so ridiculous and trivial to her own ears.

There was a noticeable pause in their conversation. Kono wasn't sure if Todoroki waited a bit to say anything because he was thinking of how to respond or if he was giving time for Kono to collect herself.

“You know, I think friendships can be trickier than given credit for.”

She wanted to laugh at what he said.

“Yeah.”

“Wish I knew how to make them.”

“When you find out tell me.”

“You live with Midoriya.”

“That was luck.”

A laugh escaped.

"This is interesting though; you never had a problem chatting to me."

"Well yeah, you're ol-" She stopped herself realizing her error.

Todoroki snorted.

“I mean…It’s different.”

Changing subjects,

“…I feel like I’m too old to be having this problem”

“Nonsense I was older than you when I did”

“That’s not very hard to believe.” Kono said before her brain could help her out for once and stop her from blurted every thought of hers.

Luckily it solicited a short, quiet laugh. For some reason that gave her reassurance that things would eventually work out. Hopefully sooner. She’s tired.

"You know...I was really confused when Todoroki-san moved out."

"I'd imagine." She swore she could hear the entertained smile in his voice.

"My sister made fun of me over it. She said you guys looked so alike."

"People always say that." He said with a tinge of fake annoyance. She never thought she could resonate with a tone of voice until now.

Neither of them said anything for a while after that. Every few minutes Kono would become aware of the faint sound of a page being turned above her. She was finally tapping her pencil in the same familiar tune. What was that song?

It didn't take long for Kono to cross paths with Todoroki and Midoriya again.

This time it was while she helped her mom plant some flowers in a small bed she had bought for the front of the apartment. Her mother said they were hoya pubicalyx and lachenalia viridiflora, whatever that means. One was red and grey, the other was teal.

"Are you sure there's enough sunlight for these here?"

"Oh they'll be fine." Her mother brushed off.

It was then that the two of them heard the shuffling and footsteps of their neighbors echo through the complex. Kono looked up to see them halfway down the stairs.

Todoroki was wearing a hat similar to the one he wore at the festival. The only difference being his hair was falling out of the hat this time, getting into his aged but content eyes.

Midoriya, on the other hand, had his hair out in all its messy glory and his freckles were as abundant as she last remembered. He was wearing a loose t-shirt that said "tuesday" in bold lettering (it was Friday?). His arm was also broken.

"My goodness what happened to your arm?!" Her mother said before greeting them.

"Oh yeah. It's fine. I just broke it is all"

"What do you mean just?" her motherly tone came in at full force. Midoriya recoiled as much as Kono did.

"He breaks his bones often." Todoroki interjected.

"Okay but this is the first time this year." Midoriya quickly defended, leading Kono to think this may be something they've bickered about before.

"It's March."

"How'd you break it?" Kono interrupted. Midoriya paused for a second to look at her.

"You know, climbing...stuff."

...

"He wouldn't tell me either."

"How far did you fall?" She asked further, pressing her lips as hard as possible in an attempt to stop from smiling.

"Kono"

A large smile spread across Midoriya's face, matching her own.

"Real high." He humored.

"Christ."

“Please don’t start climbing things.” Her mother peered.

“Yeah you don’t want to be like him. Ten years from now his joints will be crying with every movement he makes.” Todoroki added.

"Oh please."

Kono's mom chuckled.

"You guys are cute." Her mom said oh so casually. Kono's head snapped to her mom so quickly, just to see her mom already focused on patting in the soil of her publicalix or whatever they were called.

"Mom"

"What?" she asked innocently, drawing a hand to her chest.

Light chuckling came from the staircase. Todoroki seemed to be amused. Granted, they were all smiling.

"Us? Pshhh. I mean maybe some people think that- and I'm not trying to invalidate what you just said! I just mean- first of all, there's a lot of colors to take in appearance-wise (he wasn't wrong)"

Todoroki grabbed Midoriya's hand. He smiled at him with dimples that had developed over time.

"What he means is thank you"

"Yeah! Thanks!" Not a moment later Midoriya was pulling Todoroki down the stairs in a haste.

"It was nice chatting with you guys, but we've got errands to take care of! See you two later!"

As they walked away she could hear a "Will you slow down?" and "Shouto, it's already 2 pm!"

Kono and her mom shouted their goodbyes (they were moving very quickly). When they were done her mother shot her a goofy grin that took her a few seconds to notice.

"...What?"

"Did I embarrass you-" She teased, poking Kono's side.

"In front of your neighbors?" a few more pokes and a grin growing in size.

"No. Ow, you DIDn't-" her words were coming out in odd pitches as she tried to wave away her mom's evil hands.

"EmBARrass me-STOP!"

Her mom grabbed her in for an awkwardly positioned hug.

"Get off we're gonna fall!"

"Then we'll fall together."

And they did. And it was very embarrassing.

Not a week later and Midoriya was trying to climb something a still, very broken arm. What he could be climbing on a balcony with barely enough room for two chairs was beyond Kono. All she knew was that Todoroki's usual poker tone had a hint of distress it.

"Will you get down before you fall and break something else."

"No it's okay! I'll be careful."

Kono didn't have to see them to know the look Todoroki gave him at that moment.

"Wah- I WILL. Geez. No trust in this relationship."

Ignoring him, Todoroki continued his last train of thought. "You're going to fall. You're going to fall and land right in front of Nakajima."

...

"Fine I'll get down but ONLY because I don't want to scar Nakajima if I fall."

"Good."

...

"What were you even climbing on?"

Kono had an average routine. She would wake up, fight with her sister, go to school, barely interact with anyone, go home, talk to Todoroki, eat dinner with her family, and then fight with her sister some more.

In the eyes of many (particularly others her age) her schedule could be seen as boring, but overall Kono didn’t mind it. For the most part.

Her school was average in about every way. It wasn’t that big but was by no means a small-town school either. While they could be nosy at times, most of the kids seem to mind their own business (maybe Maneku was an exception; maybe Kono doesn’t know her peers well enough make such an assumption). There’s no reason why she hasn’t managed to make any friends from her school.

After second period, Kono would walk to the cafeteria in search for a place to eat her poorly constructed lunch (the consequences of waking up late; cruel and undeserved). She either plays games on her phone or reads a lousy yonkoma manga that she grabbed from her dad’s room earlier in the week so she wouldn’t be bothered to think about her lacking social skills. She often tried not to think about school, even while at school. Turns out it’s not very effective. Shocked and disgusted.

It didn’t take long for Kono to feel…strange. Like she could feel a recognizable presence near her; eyes that periodically glanced her way. It was one of those moments that make a person think there’s some sort of sixth sense.

She turns to her right. Two seats away from her sits Mirai, eating cantaloupe from a teal container. When did she get there, oh my god.

Mirai remained very focused on her cantaloupe. Eventually, she slowly raised her head and turned to meet Kono’s gaze. She blinked with no definable expression on her face.

She had trimmed her bangs and for the first time, Kono noticed her eyes were a pale, sandy brown. They reminded her of another pair of eyes and the pubicalyx and lachenalia flowers she planted with her mother a few weeks ago that were already beginning to wilt (and Kono was just beginning to like them).

Kono remembered her distantly walking by her side and talking to her from time to time. As she racked her brain to say something while she had Mirai’s attention, she beat her to it with –

“How’s your lunch?”

Oh god short talk.

She looks down at her poor bento that was nothing but plain rice and edamame. Feeling someone else’s eyes on it made it feel all that more like a lunch made by an elementary student, and even for that it was sad. All she was missing was a milk carton. The stress of rushing this morning resurfaces.

“It’s fine.” She tries her best to say pleasantly but she heard the stilt in her voice the moment she spoke.

Mirai nodded her head, not seeming to notice.

“I was going to get a pork cutlet sandwich on my way to school but the convenience store was out of them.” She gestures at her nearly empty container of cantaloupe.

“Oh.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

…

Then,

Silence.

Maybe it was the good kind of silence. Maybe she was thinking about the silence too much. There was no way they weren’t both aware of it. They looked around at everything but each other.

Kono started.

“So,”

No.

Wrong.

This is absolutely not going to turn into awkward small talk. The death of this conversation will not be on her hands. Not a chance.

She switched gears as fast as possible.

…

…

…

“What’s your quirk, anyway?”

That’s.

That’s still small talk you fucking idiot.

Unsurprisingly, Mirai didn’t seem to mind.

“You couldn’t tell?” Her eyes were slightly bigger than normal but her voice was as nonchalant as ever.

She put her arms up in the air. They twisted inward.

“Joint augmentation.” She used one arm to help twist the other until Kono ended up wincing.

“Well, technically it’s cartilage augmentation and with enough control I can shape my cartilage to make my joints more hypermobile. ‘Came in handy last year in a play at my middle school. I ended up being the grudge since I can twist my limbs at uncomfortable angles” She added, twisting her arm further. Kono wanted to look away but found it impossible to do so.

“So, are you into gymnastics or something?”

With a completely unchanged face, she responded “Do you play any instruments?”

Fair enough.

The girl’s face cracked into a smile, her eyes creasing and her eyebrows becoming slightly visible.

Kono didn’t realize she was smiling back, but she was.

Nothing else needed to be said that lunch.

For now, this was enough.

Sometimes comfortability takes time,

She could be wrong, but that’s certainly what she felt at that moment.

However, she came home and heard from her parents that Todoroki had died in an accident, she wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

The first day of summer was a week after his death. Despite her mother offering her to stay home from school every day since, Kono went, oddly disconnected to the nausea building up in her stomach.

Nothing was different. It was an ordinary week at school and today was no different. Everyone was acting the same they normally do. Kono thought she was too. Was there any difference? Did she want there to be? Could anyone else see it? Did she want them too?

She found all the color that had been brought in by summer to be insufferable. She was detached. The normalcy and liveliness of it all was had nothing to do with her, but she tried to blend into it because she hated her grey lens. Why was it there?

Was it grey or was it in color? Which one was she? Which one should she be? It was only more confusing on her walk home. Every time since, her legs grew heavy and her chest would tighten.

There was no reason for it. Her body acted like that for no reason. Whatsoever.

She made it to the front of the apartment complex. The colors came to a halt. The browns of the building and dead flowers she and her mother had planted earlier that year was all she could see.

The doorknob to her house was only a few steps and a hard twist away. Only a few seconds left and she will have made it another day. That was, before the clunk of a door from the second floor rung in her ears.

The sound of shuffling feet never lifting off the ground echoed.

Kono stared up at the staircase, unable to move. If she had been able to think at that moment she’s sure she would’ve bolted. But she couldn’t think. Not all week.

The feet reached the top of the staircase, and a familiar green cut through all the brown.

Midoriya.

His eyes widened at the sight of her, eyebrows slightly furrowed and mouth ajar.

His hair was darker than usual, nothing like the lively greens she had passed on her way home. Dark circles framed his bloodshot emerald eyes and his skin was drained of any color at all. Kono doesn’t think she’s ever seen someone look so unbelievably sad.

He looked like he was about to say her name, but she didn’t give him the chance.

Feeling her eyes sting, she dashed to her door, a few steps away turning into one giant leap. She slammed the door, charged to her room, crawled into her bed, and cried for the first time that week.

All she could think was Todoroki. A quiet, low voice. Dry humor. Book pages turning. Midoriya.

She wanted those things.

God, her head was aching. Her chest burned. Under her blanket there was no color. Not even grey. It allowed her to shake out whatever undeserved emotions have been boiling inside her at least. Her shaky breathes were deathly audible to her own ears in the stifling silence of her room.

Wait.

The silence…of her room.

She threw the blanket right of her head and sure enough, there was her sister. Staring right at her. Bug eyed, somewhat pale, and looks about ready to race out the door. Just this one time, the god’s have blessed her for this to happen when Unko miraculously wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Are you-

“Yeah.”

Aneko nodded her head and looked away. After that she moved her bowl of M&M’s onto the floor perfectly in between their beds and tilted her laptop to slightly face where Kono sat.

Kono took some of those M&M’s. She may or may not have started crying again while eating them. Aneko may or may not have subtly watched in worry.

A few days later a woman with the same hair and demeanor as Midoriya showed up at the apartment complex. Kono watched from her living room window as the woman made many trips carrying trash to the dumpster outside the complex. Eventually the trash bags stopped and instead she carried out a suitcase.

Then she walked out with Midoriya himself. He was like glue, slow and sticking to his mother’s side.

Kono watched as they finally drove away. She pretended to do her homework the entire time.

Getting to school became increasingly hard the upcoming week. Not because of her own feelings, surely, but because her mom is continuing her worried query every morning.

It’s getting harder to fight with her when Kono notices the edges and creases growing on her mother’s normally soft face.

None of it was warranted. It was certainly suffocating though.

By Friday,

the delicate, caring pressure of her mother intensified.

Coming home from school, her mother stopped her in the hall to her room. Her mom, who was small in size and had features much softer than her own, was an unfaltering wall at that moment.

Her eyes round, big with concern. Her eyebrows knitted together in stubbornness.

Kono imagined she, herself looked like a scared dog right about now.

“Kono” a steel voice.

“I’m worried about you.” It trembled. It was numbing to hear.

“Why?” her voice rising in pitch wasn’t intentional. Regardless, her mom only appeared more sympathetic because of it

“There’s nothing with how you’re feeling right now, but I don’t think you’re acknowledging it.”

“What, because I’m going to school?”

“And I’m not feeling anything!”

She wanted to run to her room. More than anything. But her mom wasn’t budging.

She looked behind her. There was the living room, the kitchen, the awkward space at the entrance of the house and—

“Kono.” She called. Harsher this time. She was now holding onto her arms.

“What’s wrong?” she pleaded.

It left Kono without a trace of warmth in her body except for the burning sensation in her eyes and throat.

She stared at every part of her mother that wasn’t her face. Red—salmon colored flats. They were worn out. Embroidered jeans Kono can remember her wearing as early as her elementary days. A white t-shirt she bought with her to tie dye but they never got to it. A dark orange sweater that cut at her elbows; She only wears it in the summer. Everything she’s wearing held so many memories. Her mom never got rid of or dropped things.

She never paid much attention to it but now it’s making it all the harder to not cry. God, why is she about to cry.

Staring at her mom’s shoes (she’s pretty sure they have pictures of her wearing them from before she was even born), she said with as much conviction as she could, “I promise…I’ll talk about it later.” She nearly flinched at the way her voice sounded.

After she got no response, she hesitantly looked up to her mother.

Slowly, and still lined with concern, her mother’s face softened. She doesn’t find it any less terrifying.

She’s pulled in for a hug, and her mom pats the back of her shoulder and quietly says “Make it sooner than later.”

She lets her go. Kono imagined dashing to her room with amazing speed. In reality, walking away from her mom was slow, guilt charged, and featured indecisive head turns.

As more time passed, Kono began looking up the complex staircase anytime she left the apartment.

It’s been six weeks since she’s seen Midoriya.

She lingers at her door for a second. She opens her door and steps inside. The back door is visible from where she stands, directly across from her. The door itself is clear. Through it she can see Everything She Misses And Kind Of, Maybe, Feels Sad About.

She goes to her room.

Aneko was laying with her stomach against the bed. Alone. As usual they look at one another without saying a thing when she walks in.

Kono crawls into her wonderful, ginormous twin bed and sits. Doing nothing. Nothing other than contemplating asking her sister why she’s stopped being annoying these past two months.

Aneko put the bag of chips she had in her lap on the floor between their beds,

See?

What is that?

“I don’t want them.” Kono said. She received a shrug.

“’Kay.” Munching noises pursue.

Kono looked at her sister, lips tinted red from the excessive amount of ships she’s eaten, frizzy hair that barely passed her ears, and a nose that was red and patchy as per usual. She also had an undeniably pretty face.

Disregarding appearance, Kono always begrudgingly felt they were somewhat similar.

It’s not as if Aneko especially gets along with others or is skilled in socializing. She lucked out and found someone who’s as big a hermit as she is to hang out with.

“Where’s Unko?”

Her sister smiled. Kono regretted asking.

“I thought you didn’t like her.”

“I don’t. It’s just weird that she’s not here.”

“I guess I could ask her to start coming over again.”

“Don’t. Let her never come over again.”

“I’ll let her know you missed her.”

“Don’t tell her that.”

Aneko started laughing.

“So  s e r i o u s” her cackling continued.

Kono really hates her.

Surely enough, the next day Unko was over once again. Her and Aneko seemed adamant on involving Kono in all of their ridiculous conversations.

For once, she didn’t mind it that much.

It was two weeks after the school year ended when Midoriya came back. Kono and her mom were coming back from grocery shopping her mom had forced her to tag along with and there he was. Unloading things from the same car he had left in three months ago.

“Honey, I told you I can carry everything!” the shorter green haired lady persisted, carrying a few things herself.

“I can still carry things, mom.”

Kono and her mom looked down to his hands and surely enough, his left index finger was broken.

“It’s nice to see you back, Midoriya!” her mom smiled, not commenting on the broken limb this time around. She nudged Kono’s arm. She didn’t react to the nudge. She felt heavier than usual, as if it were molded from clay and any movement would lead her to crack and break.

The two blinked at them before smiling. “Hey Nakajima” he said as he attempted to wave with his left hand while still holding a stack of boxes, showing off the cast on his index finger. He went back to holding his things with both hands after briefly losing balance, gaining a worried stare from his mom.

His hair was longer, and in result messier than it had been. He looked ruinously tired, with dark circles under his eyes and his voice lacked the energy it used to have. However, his skin had some more color to it than it had the two weeks he was here after Todoroki’s death. Things were beginning to shift. Things were beginning change.

Kono took in a deep breath and opened the door that led to her porch, instantly feeling swarmed by the thick summer air. She stepped outside and took everything in. The ground was cold against her bare feet. The small round table and chair were now covered in a thin coat of dust and dirt, she had been the only one that ever went out there after all.

Ignoring the dust and dirt, she sat on the chair. It felt weird. Stiff. It’s the same. She kicked the air, waiting for something. It’s too quiet.

She wipes some of the collected dust and dirt of the table and begins to tap a beat onto it. It doesn’t sound as precise as usual. Her ears are probably playing tricks on her.

She waited for herself to burst into tears, for her to be overwhelmed by sadness. Instead she felt uncomfortable and empty. Feeling defeated, she went back inside.

A new hideout was needed. Where—was a good question.

There was only so much space inside the apartment and much less outside.

She stepped out to her front porch. How very creative of her. She heard wind chimes. Small and metal. That was new.

Behind the stairs that she had seen Midoriya and Todoroki walk down numerous times was a vending machine no one ever used. With exactly 125 yen to her name, Kono went ahead and bought a pack of Chocoballs.

Not ready to be around her family and their following stares, she plopped down beside the vending machine.

She stared at her box of candy.

“Why did I even buy this I’m not hungry.” She opened it and threw several pieces in her mouth at once. Before she knew it the box was empty. If she had more money, she might’ve bought another. Who knows, maybe it would make a good coping mechanism.

She chuckled at her own thought.

“I’m so stupid.” Her eyes teared up briefly, but she easily blinked them away.

She started tapping the empty box that more than fit in the palm of her hand.

She tapped nonsense.

Until it turned into that familiar tune. She kept at it. It was uncomfortably easy to create the tune she still couldn’t remember the name of.

Then an audible sniffle came from the open floor above her.

She immediately stopped, her attention now completely on the sound of crying above her. How is she just now hearing it?

She waited.

…

…

“Was that…the Godzilla theme song?” It was Midoriya. His voice held a tint of humor that left Kono feeling relieved…and happy.

“Wha-ohhhhhh, yeah.”

He let out a shaky laugh.

“I always wondered why he would hum that all the time.”

“Did he really?” she said, the image making her smile. A smile that trembled against her will as her vision blurred. No this seriously can’t be what makes her cry.

“Yeah, I thought he was secretly watching the movies all the time, thinking I would tease him for being a fan or something” he said, somehow sounding both on the edge of tears and of laughter.

They both laughed. Midoriya’s sniffling remained present however, every time Kono feeling her own eyes sting a little more. The distant sound of a soft, low voice and mocking sighs played through her brain. Eventually she broke the short silence. She refused to give herself a chance to really cry.

“How did you break your finger?” she decided to go with.

“Wh- oh did you see that?” he chuckled lightly. “I broke it while playing mercy with an old friend back at my hometown.”

“How do you break your finger from mercy?” she could practically hear Todoroki’s voice replacing hers as she asked. She wondered if Midoriya did too.

“You’d understand if you met the friend I played with.”

“I don’t think I would want to.”

Now when Kono walks home from school she notices the chimes hanging outside Midoriya’s apartment along with the small, quaint chair that begged to go unnoticed. It was a light, dirty green.

“Do you have one hundred yen?”

“Again?” Aneko retorted

“You don’t have one hundred yen?” Unko chimed in.

“No.” Kono said, surprised by her own honesty.

A chuckle.

Kono didn’t really care right now.

“Isn’t mom almost finished with dinner? Buy candy later.”

Kono sighed with the lack of direction this conversation has taken.

“Do you have one hundred yen or not?”

Aneko rolled off her bed and began digging through her drawer, going on to tiredly say okay a few times in a row.

She turned and threw two coins Kono’s way. Kono says thank you quietly enough to make sure her sister won’t hear her as she leaves their room and makes her way to the vending machine outside the apartment complex.

Midoriya is sitting out there. It’s the first time she’s actually seen him use the chair outside his apartment. She can’t see his face, but he was being quiet. She’s not even sure if he noticed her opening her door. She wondered what he was feeling right now.

The vending machine stared back at her. She didn’t have enough to buy the same box of chocolate she did before. She settled for a small stick of chewy candy. Taking it from the slot, she looked up. Midoriya should only be a little to the right above her. She wanted to say something. Has he realized she’s there?

She walks back inside without looking up the flight of stairs.

Sitting at her dinner table with the chipper chatter of the other three eating, she wanted to hit herself with her plate.

The next time Kono saw Midoriya he wasn’t sitting on his small green chair but on a step of the staircase with her mom. She briefly freezes before snapping back into the humid, brown reality. It’s been a while since she’s seen the two of them talk like this.

It’s weird.

It feels like she’s gone back in time, almost.

Midoriya.

Is there room?

Standing with her hands on her hips, Kono stared down at her mom. She was in front of her, sitting on the couch and peacefully reading a thin novel. A relaxed smile present.

“Yes?” she said, her eyes never leaving her book. If it was anyone else Kono would’ve thought the comment was meant to be cross. She deflated and sat next to her.

“Nothing.”

…

Her mom’s lack of reaction left her holding back a grumble.

…

“Is Midoriya’s index finger still broken?”

Her mom now looked up, eyebrows drawing together.

“What?”

“I don’t know…How long does it normally take for that kind of thing to heal?”

Her mom’s eyebrows drew in closer. She raised her arms slightly before they fell back to her side.

“A month or two?”

“Oh.”

…

It only took a second for her mom’s expression to go from one of confusion to one of understanding. What she could be understanding is beyond her.

Kono repositioned herself so that she was laying down on the couch- head on the arm, and legs on top of her mom’s lap.

“You know, I was thinking about inviting Midoriya to dinner.”

“Would you like to ask with me?”

Her mom squeezed her foot and smiled at her. She hasn’t looked this relaxed in months.

The dining table was crowded. It was only meant for three: Kono, her mom, and Aneko. But the extra company of Unko and Midoriya felt welcome.

“Wait, what’s your name?”

“I am Junko Hamada.” She says as if her name holds any major significance.

“Otherwise known as Unko by the kindest Kono.” She adds animatedly.

“Shut up already.”

He smiled. “Oh, it’s a nickname.”

“A stupid one.” Aneko added under her breath (but everyone still heard).

“Is your name really Izuku?” Unko gracefully changed subjects.

“Uh. Yes?”

“Really? That’s so cool. I wish my name was a color.”

“Oh my god. Shut up.”

Even Aneko’s narrowing glance was directed to Unko. For once her and Kono seemed to be on the same page.

“Kono you shouldn’t talk like that at the dinner table.”

“Wha-seriously?” Kono turned to her mom, eyes wide and arm out in Unko’s direction.

“Yes, seriously.”

“But she’s always like that.” Aneko commented with Unko agreeing offhandedly.

“The food is very good Nakajima.” Midoriya seemed to be completely unphased by any of their bickering. He kept a small, tired smile on through the entire dinner and his eyes were amused.

Kono felt more conscious of her volume. She wondered if that was annoying.

Her mom straightened her posture from the compliment. “Thank you, I’m glad it came out all right.”

After that dinner seemed to go by peacefully. Aneko and Junko eventually left the table in a fit of laughter as they went off to their room. Kono stayed at the table with her mom and Midoriya. She was mostly silent, listening as the other two conversed. For some reason the idea of leaving the table felt wrong.

Watching the two was strange in its own right. Sure, Kono understood her mother and Midoriya had become friends overtime, but she had never stopped to think about what that could mean. Apparently, it meant sharing an interest in nutrients and comparing food prices. It didn’t take long for them to discuss the hardships of cooking.

“Getting the portions right has always been hard for me.” Her mom admits.

Midoriya nods his head in understanding. “Same, same.”

“I always did most of the cooking. Todoroki was a safety hazard to the kitchen.”

Her mom laughed so invitingly and-

“Did he have any weird eating habits?” Kono broke it.

“Yeah…he would drink coffee with dinner sometimes. We both did actually. When he would set the table he’d put down two mugs instead of cups for dinner. It was bad. Don’t follow our example it’s a bad habit.”

Or maybe she didn’t.

She smiled.

“Oh, honey that’s normal. I had a cup before you got here.” Her mom waved.

“…so did I”

“It has very much not gone away.”

They both chuckled. Kono watched.

Kono had only had coffee a few times in her life. Twice, actually. The first time was horrible. Aneko said it was because she didn’t add anything to it. The second time Aneko, with the “assistance” of Unko, made the cup of coffee. It tasted like they put two whole tablespoons of ground cinnamon in the thing. She has rejected the drink since and has a hard time understanding how anyone could enjoy it but hearing how Todoroki existed completely outside of the balcony, and just simply seeing Midoriya, reminded her he belonged to so many memories outside of her own.

She was a small piece of many. Many that were probably affected more than she could imagine.

It’s hard to pinpoint when or how people integrate their way into others’ lives but watching Midoriya at their dining table gave Kono a sure feeling he would become an important part of her family. She welcomed it.