[Chapter Image]
(Kata POV – Shopping Mall)
Over the next thirty minutes, the rest of the class trickled in one by one.
Laughter echoed through the open space of the mall, familiar voices overlapping as the group grew.
"Looks like that's everyone!" Mina grins, buzzing with energy, almost like she's already bored standing still. "So… what's the plan? Are we going to shop together, or should we split into groups?"
"We should split up." Kirishima says, folding his arms. "It'll be faster, and not everyone needs the same stuff anyway."
A chorus of agreement follows almost instantly.
And just like that, the class divides itself naturally. Pairs and trios peeling off without much thought.
The first thing that happens is Eri being gently but decisively claimed by Momo.
'That's to be expected.' I think to myself, watching Momo take Eri's hand with a soft smile and excitedly start discussing which shops to visit first, her eyes sparkling. 'They did ask me to bring her.'
What I didn't expect, however…
"I'm gonna go with the girls." Himiko lets go of my arm far too easily, smiling lazily as she drifted toward the rest of Class 1-A's girls. It almost seems rehearsed.
"Have fun, Kata~" She adds, giving me a little wink and a wave goodbye.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
'That's suspicious.'
As if on cue, the remaining girls all "coincidentally" decided they needed to shop for similar things. Clothes, accessories, and so on. They group up quickly, chatting animatedly as they walk off quickly.
All of them.
Except—
"Wow…" Mina said, scratching the back of her head as everyone disappears. "Guess everyone ditched us, huh?"
Her usual confidence is still there, but there's a bit of nervousness now. Her cheeks are a darker pink than usual, standing out against the rest of her skin.
"Looks like it." I replied, a small smile tugging at my lips. "What a coincidence."
She laughs, a little louder than necessary. "Yeah! A total coincidence! Super random!"
I turn toward her and hold out my hand.
"So…" I say calmly. "Want to shop together?"
For half a second, she just stares at my hand.
Her eyes widen, and her blush deepens. I can almost see her internal panic.
She inhaled sharply.
"HELL YEAH!"
She slapped my hand, hard, in what was very clearly a high five. The sound echoes loudly, momentarily drawing some attention to us, but the moment passes just as quick.
The moment it registers what she's done, she freezes.
Her entire body locks up, eyes going wide as regret crashes in all at once.
"…Oh no…" She mutters to herself.
I keep my expression neutral, though I find the situation oddly amusing.
"My offer still stands." I say, keeping my hand outstretched. "We can hold hands so we don't get separated."
It's an obvious excuse.
She knows it.
I know she knows it.
"R-Right! Yeah! Totally!" Mina laughs awkwardly, grabbing my hand this time, and immediately turning away so I couldn't see her face. "Safety first. The mall's huge, and it'd be super easy to lose people!"
Her grip was warm, and a little tight.
She starts walking quickly, tugging me along before I could say anything else.
"Okay! For our first stop, let's look at some shoes!" She declares, her voice bright and energetic. "I need new ones for the camping trip."
"I also need new shoes." I lie.
"That works out perfectly then." She sighs in relief, her grip on my hand loosening slightly.
I let her drag me along, watching the way her shoulders slowly relaxed as she settled into motion.
'So this is how she handles it.' I thought. 'Just push through the nervousness with a big smile, and not giving herself time to overthink.'
I don't mind.
If anything, it's cute seeing her act tough.
I know this entire situation is a huge conspiracy, but I've got no reason to complain.
(Mina POV – Shopping Mall)
'He knows!'
I scream internally, my brain calculating numerous possibilities.
When Himiko pitched this idea, after telling us everything that happened between her and Kata, we all knew one thing for sure.
'There's no way he wouldn't notice.'
And yet.
Despite very clearly knowing what this was, he didn't call anyone out, tease me about it, or refuse. He just… went along with it.
Which somehow makes it worse.
'Does he like me too?'
My heart thumps painfully against my ribs as I pretend to seriously examine the wall of shoes in front of me. 'Why else would he ask to hold my hand? Was he actually worried about getting separated? No, no… that's dumb. That's totally dumb.'
I shake my head slightly, forcing my thoughts back under control.
Outwardly, I grin like everything's normal.
"I think I like these ones the most." I say, lifting a pair of white sneakers. "What do you think?"
Kata leans in to look at them more closely, and my brain instantly hyper-focuses on him.
And suddenly, he's way too close. Worse… it doesn't bother me at all.
"They're fine." He says thoughtfully. "But wouldn't you prefer pink? You said it's your favorite color. White's mine."
My heart stops.
'He remembered that?! All the way since the Sports Festival.'
Warmth floods my chest, and then immediate panic follows right after.
"W-Wait! I didn't pick white because it's your favorite color!" I blurt out, waving my hands. My eyes betray me for half a second, drifting to his white hair before I catch myself.
"So it's because my hair's white?" He asks, a grin tugging at his lips.
My face ignites.
"N-No! Absolutely not!" I laugh way too fast, looking anywhere but at him. "They just don't have the colors I want here!"
He hums, nodding. "I can recolor them later for you, if you want."
I blink.
"…You can?"
"Yeah."
I smile before I can stop myself. "Thanks. That'd actually help a lot."
He picks out a pair for himself too, and I wonder if he really did just want shoes.
From there, we just… keep going.
From shop to shop, with a little wandering, and some little browsing. I take the lead most of the time, but somehow he always knows where things are, like he's got the whole mall mapped out. Whatever I'm looking for, he points me in the right direction without hesitation.
Even though this was technically planned…
It doesn't feel forced.
It feels like a date.
Just walking around the mall. Laughing. Talking. Sharing snacks we absolutely didn't need but bought anyway.
We stop at a small stand for drinks, and I nearly spill mine when Kata casually nudges it back toward me before it tips.
"Careful." He says.
"Hey! I had it!" I protest, laughing.
"I'm sure."
There's light teasing, nothing mean… nothing I hate. With the most troublesome part being the butterflies fluttering about in my stomach whenever he does tease me, smile, get close… pretty much any and everything. And when I mess up, tripping over my words, panicking over nothing… he never looks annoyed.
Once, when I completely blank mid-sentence, he just tilted his head and told me, "That was cute."
And it nearly killed me.
'…I'm actually having fun. Lots of fun.'
The thought sneaks in quietly, settling warmly in my chest.
I stop worrying about doing everything right. Even when I mess up, it doesn't feel like I'm failing.
It feels like I'm… allowed to be myself.
'My heart feels full.' I think, smiling without realizing it. 'Is this… love?'
I don't know.
But I don't hate the feeling.
And I really, really hope it is.
"How does it look?" I ask, stepping out of the dressing room and turning slightly, wearing a black dress with golden trim I picked on a whim.
He looks at me, like I'm the only person in the world.
"It's great." He compliments with a smile. "It matches your eyes."
That's it.
That's all he says.
But I can tell he means it.
And my decision is immediate. "I'm buying it."
Later, I force him into trying on a shirt I picked, and yeah—okay—it looks stupidly good on him. I feel weirdly proud about that.
And as time passes, we somehow end up at the arcade.
Specifically, at a dancing game.
Which turned out to be a bad decision.
"How are you… so good… at this?!" I gasp between breaths, hands on my knees as the game ends.
I lost.
Again.
Kata, meanwhile, looks exactly the same as when we started.
"I'm not good at dancing." He says with a shrug. "I just copied what was on the screen."
I stare at him. "…I hate you."
He chuckles.
"You should dance more." I say, straightening up. "It's such a waste if you don't."
"I don't know any dancers…" He replies, then looks directly at me. "Except you."
My breath catches.
"Would you teach me?"
I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh—yeah! Totally! I'll make you the best dancer ever. Second only to me."
He raises an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge, Mina?"
He steps a little closer, and suddenly I have to tilt my head up to meet his gaze.
My heart slams into my ribs.
"Maybe it is." I say, holding my ground.
And after a few seconds we both break into laughter.
"Then I'm looking forward to it." He says.
'Me too…' I think, smiling.
I feel shy, excited, and very, very happy.
*********
A/N: Hello Everyone! How are you all? If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
So, this was all improv. I didn't originally plan to do a date here, but I saw the opportunity and decided to go for it. Very sweet and romantic, right? Maybe it's my own naive view, but I don't think romance should be the traditional candlelit dinner stuff, and that each relationship is unique in what constitutes romance. Toga is more forward and likes blood, biting, stabbing👀.
Momo is closest to the traditional romance. She's a sweetheart. Rumi would be more fight me then cuddle after, idk yet, but there'd definitely be violence. And Mina is the more chill carefree kind. Would this count as a date or a hangout? Maybe both, which is good in my opinion. Tell me if I'm wrong🤣. I'll fight to defend my naive viewpoint!
Beyond that... I suppose you should savour it. Plot about to start moving. Well, not necessarily plot as in the original canon (although that's also coming soon), but plot in this AU. And it's gonna be some sad plot. I guess action stuff? And, I know the poll for what to do with Shigaraki, was overwhelmingly saying "kill him!", but, I've changed my mind.
Before you riot 👀, there won't be any sparing of anyone. But killing's a bit much. I'll assume neutralize ≠ kill. And Shigaraki will be neutralized. I kinda just don't want a scenario where after everything, people are still wondering about him, much less people finding out he's been killed too. That'd suck, and be a hassle. Plus, as much as Kata isn't against cold-blooded murder, I don't think he's that heartless... Okay, he is, especially to anyone he doesn't care about. But not so much as just kill because.
With Overhaul, dude hurt Eri, so there wasn't discussion. Shigaraki sucks, and he wouldn't go out of his way to save him, but outsourcing the problem isn't beyond him. So yeah, I'll warn you in advance. It'll be satisfying, but mindless murder doesn't fit yet. And no, AFO has 0% chance of being spared. I'm not gonna go soft on that dude.
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
But yeah, that's all from me. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day/night!
P.S. For anyone curious, the image is what she was wearing in canon and to the mall here. She looked hot🙂↕️