Chapter Text
Katsuki never really made big plans for his summer vacations. Last year his vacation was stolen by the Wild Wild Pussycats, and then the League of Villains. This year he has no such worries but he's still a bit of a workaholic. He'll probably see if he can find somewhere to train, or do patrols. Him and Ibara still need to find a new mentor, since neither are eager to work for Endeavor, now that he's out of his hiatus. Katsuki obviously didn't have so much of a problem with him, but he was considering Ibara's feelings... that was new and weird. In the middle of this wandering, he gets a phone call. Not a number he recognizes.
Katsuki loves answering scam callers, "What the fuck do you want scumbag!?"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME???" The voice of Burnin was unmistakable, and so loud he has to pull the phone away from his ear.
"How was I supposed to know it was you!?”
“Maybe start by answering the phone like a normal person! Try, hello!”
“Hi Burnin’! What do you want!?”
“I was gonna invite you kids to the beach this weekend since you’re out of school, but clearly you’re not interested!”
“Wait!”
“…”
“Who is ‘you kids’…”
“You, Shiozaki, and Shoto.”
Katsuki growls under his breath, “Todoroki…”
“That’s the one.”
“Why would I want to spend a whole weekend of my summer vacation with that guy?”
“I should tell you that-” He hears a knock at his door and immediately hangs up the phone.
He opens the door to Ibara, stood in her usual casual wear of long skirt and blouse. “Did you already talk to Burnin’?”
He scrunches his brows, “How’d you know?”
She furrows hers in return, he didn’t say it sarcastically. Ibara wasn’t sure she ever heard him be sarcastic, “She told me she was going to call you-” She shakes her head, “That’s not important. We’re going.”
“What!? Why???”
She takes his hands, and takes a deep breath, “Because… I already said yes.” She already sounds like she’s about to start crying.
“I don’t see how that’s my-”
“No- Listen. I should’ve asked you first, and I can’t say no now, and if you don’t go, then I’ll have to go by myself, with Todoroki, and-and it’ll be weird, and I’ll have no one to talk to-”
She’s going to make herself cry so I’ll feel bad, well it’s not going to work! He hears a door open in the hall and immediately slams the door closed on her. Can not let someone think I was making her cry! If she wants to look like a weirdo crying in the hallway that’s on her!
“K-katsuki!” She knocks frantically, her normal tone miraculously returned to her voice. “Please! Come with! It’ll be so awkward without you!!!”
Katsuki’s already packing his bag and getting ready, but like hell he’s going to tell her after she was just trying to shamelessly embarrass him.
There’s another knock at the door, followed by Todoroki’s monotone voice. “I’ll meet you guys downstairs when you’re ready, Burnin said she’s almost here.”
Katsuki accidentally lights a shirt on fire, and has to stomp it out. A few minutes later he opens the door, equipped with a proper t-shirt and shorts, and he finds Ibara just sitting there curled up in the hallway. “Wow, you really don’t want to be alone with him huh?”
“I’m not a liar…”
Katsuki takes her hand and helps her up, “I won’t let you be alone this weekend. Don’t worry.” I don’t wanna be alone with that guy either.
She blushes, “What a sinful thing to say…”
He sneers, he feels the strong and sudden urge to try and bite one of her vines off her head. “You know what I mean!”
Ibara giggles and wraps her arm around his, “I do.”
As they walk down to join Todoroki in the commons area, Katsuki finds Ibara left all of her bags, already packed, down here. He wondered a little bit what was in all of them, and then wondered if he brought enough since he fit it all in one backpack, he was quite certain he wouldn’t need much more than a few changes of clothes, his phone, and a charger. Then he wondered how she got to be so trusting of all of their classmates, Katsuki couldn’t imagine leaving that much of his stuff unguarded. He supposes though that’s just who Ibara is. Trusting to a fault. He finds himself, just a little bit thankful for that fault of hers.
He's once again snapped out of his wandering mind by Burnin, as she chops him on the forehead, “That’s for hanging up on me!”
“I thought we were done talking.”
“I was in the middle of a sentence!-” She huffs, “Just hop in.” She helps Ibara with her luggage.
Burnin’s face looked so strange without the mask. Katsuki’d seen it a few times, but that was in the hospital, she was supposed to look strange in a hospital. Her little car, her wardrobe. Everything about her was so normal…
Todoroki takes shotgun, which, Katsuki immediately wants to fight him on, but Ibara reels him into the backseat with her. Shoto asks so politely once they start moving, “How long is the drive?”
“Couple hours.”
“What??? Dagoba is like twenty minutes from here! How is it a couple hours???”
“Did you want to stay at my nice beach house, or go to Dagoba Municipal Beach? Maybe you’d enjoy sleeping on the sand. Ooh, or on the dock, I hear some kid cleaned that place up just a year ago, hopefully it’s still nice.”
Ibara chimes in, “I vote beach house.”
Katsuki grumbles, “Beach house is fine.”
Ibara giggles and puts her head on his grumpy shoulder. “Thank you Burnin’.”
Burnin’s heart melts just a little, she smiles in the rearview mirror, “You’re welcome Shiozaki, and hey, on this trip. You kids can just call me Kamiji.”
“Are you still a hero?” Katsuki asks, much more subdued by contact with Ibara.
Burnin’s grip on the steering wheel tightens just a little, “I am… I just needed a little break from it is all.”
“Why?”
She sighs, wondering why Katsuki is always so full of judgmental questions, “I’m not going to bum you kids out with that. Don’t worry about it.” She turns on the radio in the hopes they’ll stop questioning her.
Ibara looks up at Katsuki, as they ride along. Her mind wandered to what the sleeping situation would be like, she’s certain Burnin wouldn’t force them to share a room, but would there be enough rooms for all three of them. Someone might have to sleep on the couch, Ibara is positive if she offered then she’d be swiftly declined by everyone in the party, save maybe Todoroki. Should she offer to share a room with Katsuki? Would Burnin allow that-
“Ibara.” Katsuki sounds so gentle trying to pull her out of her mind.
“Hm?”
He pulls against one of the vines that started to wrap around his chest, “Is there something you wanted to talk about?”
Ibara quickly releases him, and commands her vines into a bun. “Ah- sorry. I uh…” The thought of explaining where her mind went makes her face turn red. “Nothing at all!”
Liar… He tries to think of something he could tell her about instead, just to pass the time, but maybe ease whatever’s bothering her. “Did you know Komori hates me?”
Ibara snorts, caught completely off guard by that- she’s more impressed he actually remembered her name, but she has to ask, “Where did you learn that?”
“From her. I had my exam with her and big fist girl.”
“She said she hated you? Like to your face?”
“Not in so many words, but… pretty much.”
Ibara loves playing therapist for Katsuki, “Does that bother you?”
“No. Just didn’t know what I did specifically to her.”
Ibara tries not to laugh, “She just…” She looks for the words to explain it, “She’s very protective of all her friends. She doesn’t know you well enough to really mean it. It’s just a gut feeling you gave her- first impression! Remember, I thought you were a brute and an idiot when I met you.”
“As oppose to now?”
“Now, well… I guess I was half right about you.” She smirks.
Katsuki smiles at her, he knows she’s making fun of him, but there’s something so cute about the sense of pride she seems to get from lines like that.
Todoroki decides to join in, “I knew that when Bakugo and I first met, we would become best friends, and I was right.”
Katsuki’s smile turns sour, but Ibara actually laughs at that, “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor Todoroki.”
Todoroki looks a bit confused, “Do I?”
Burnin snorts and tousles his hair, mixing the red and white. “Just take the compliment.”
The ride is long, but Burnin’s taste in music carries them through, at least long enough for Katsuki to fall asleep on Ibara.