Chapter Text
The academy had a remarkable ability to make life-changing information sound boring.
The email arrived at 8:03 AM on a Monday.
Nobody paid true attention to it.
By 8:07, the entire first-year class was in crisis.
"Absolutely not." Kaminari stared at his phone "No." Across the classroom, Jirou didn't even look up, "What's wrong now?"
"Summer."
"Summer is not wrong."
"It is."
"It's literally a season."
"It arrived too fast." Several students immediately agreed.
The room descended into complaints.
Aizawa ignored all of them.
As usual.
----
The email contained everything.
Summer placements, internships, development programs.
Manufacturer opportunities, sponsor recommendations, training schedules.
The future.
Apparently.
The realization was deeply offensive "Two months."
Kirishima shook his head "It doesn't make sense."
"We've discussed this" Momo replied "Time moves forward."
"It shouldn't."
"It does."
"Rude."
By lunch, the conversation had consumed the entire class, everyone wanted to know where everyone else was going.
"What about you?" Ashido pointed toward Kirishima.
He swallowed "Dad's team."
"Expected." She pointed elsewhere.
"Momo?" "Manufacturer development placement." "Expected." "Jirou?"
"Performance engineering." "Expected."
One by one, answers filled the table.
Programs, internships, travel.
Summer plans.
Future plans.
Life after the academy, everything suddenly felt very real.
Then Ashido turned toward Shouto.
The answer was obvious "What about you?"
Shouto didn't even look up from her drink "Ferrari." "Right."
Nobody seemed surprised.
Why would they be?
Ferrari had been part of her life longer than most of them had been racing, summer meant Maranello, it always had.
The conversation moved on, until somebody made a mistake.
"What about Bakugou?" The table quieted.
Not dramatically. Just enough.
Because nobody actually knew.
Katsuki shrugged "Haven't decided."
Ashido blinked "Wait, really?"
"Really."
"What are your options?"
"Stuff."
"That isn't an answer."
"It's enough of one."
Normally, that would've ended the discussion, instead Shouto found herself paying attention.
Which was unfortunate.
----
The thought followed her throughout the day. Not intentionally.
It simply lingered, like background noise.
Summer, placements, programs.
People leaving.
The year ending.
It was strange.
For months, everyone had been operating under the assumption that tomorrow would look exactly like today.
Now tomorrow had become a real thing.
A separate thing.
A future thing, and suddenly that felt different.
Later that evening, Garage Three was unusually quiet.
The sun hung low outside, golden light stretched across the floor through the open garage doors the air was warm.
Spring had fully settled over the academy. Shouto sat on top of her usual toolbox while Bakugou scrolled through something on his phone.
Neither was actually working.
The reports sat untouched.
Again.
A familiar problem.
Eventually Bakugou spoke "Ferrari sent me something."
Shouto looked up.
Immediately. Before she could stop herself.
Bakugou noticed.
Unfortunately.
"What."
"Nothing."
"That was fast."
"It wasn't."
"It was." She ignored him.
A strategy that rarely worked "What did they send?"
He held up the phone.
"Summer program." The words landed harder than they should have, a sponsored development program.
Advanced training, engineering exposure, track testing.
A Ferrari logo sat proudly at the top of the page. Shouto read the information twice.
Then a third time.
Then casually handed the phone back "That's good."
"Yeah."
"You should do it."
Bakugou studied her expression, the look immediately made her suspicious.
"What."
"Nothing."
"That's not true."
"Nope."
"Annoying."
"Usually."
The conversation should have ended there.
Instead, silence settled between them, the comfortable kind.
The dangerous kind.
Because now both of them were thinking about the same thing.
Neither acknowledged it. Neither planned to.
Still.
It remained.
If he accepted the placement...
Summer would look very different.
----
The drive home felt longer than usual, the roads were clear.
The weather was warm the setting sun painted everything gold.
Shouto barely noticed.
Her thoughts kept circling the same conversation.
Ferrari, summer, Bakugou.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Eventually she gave up and pressed a familiar contact, the call connected almost immediately.
"Shouto."
"Hi."
A brief pause.
"Something wrong?"
"No."
Which immediately told Endeavor something was wrong, years of experience.
Unfortunately.
"What is it."
Shouto sighed "There was a Ferrari summer placement."
"I know." Of course he did.
"Bakugou got invited."
The silence on the other end lasted exactly long enough to become suspicious.
"Yes."
Shouto frowned, something about the answer felt strange "Yes?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"Ferrari requested him."
The world seemed to stop, just briefly.
The evening traffic continued around her.
Cars moved, lights changed.
Everything remained normal.
Except suddenly it wasn't.
Requested. Not accepted.
Not recommended.
He was requested, Ferrari wanted him there.
For some reason, that realization made her smile.
Small, unnoticed.
Dangerous.
"That's all?" Endeavor asked.
Shouto blinked.
Realizing she hadn't spoken for several seconds.
"Yeah."
The lie was terrible Endeavor knew it.
She knew it.
Neither mentioned it.
After all-
there were still two months left before summer.
Right?
For some reason, that suddenly didn't feel like very much time at all.