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"Have a good weekend and stay out of trouble I guess." Shota dismissed the class before lowering his voice and directing it's audience away from the majority, "Before you leave, (y/n), Kirishima, could you come up here for a moment?"

I gathered my things from my desk and waved goodbye to Tsu and Mina as they passed by before making my way to the front.

"Bye (y/n)!"

"See you next week. Ribbit."

"Yes?" Kirishima asked Shota politely as he too arrived at the front of the classroom, looking a little nervous to have been singled out by a teacher. Something I assumed didn't happen very often for him as he struck me as a very good student. Not exactly much of a trouble maker unlike a few of his friends.

"I had a meeting pop up this afternoon when I was supposed to be at home getting some sleep," Shota sighed heavily. "Which means I can't walk you back to the apartment, (y/n), and a traumatized young girl walking through the city alone mid afternoon doesn't seem like an ideal situation. Especially when said girl is under my care. So, Kirishima, since out of my students you're one of the most responsible and live the closest to my apartment I was wondering if you'd mind walking her home." Shota paused. "Well, less wondering and more asking. Demanding, I guess. Anyway, see you at home (y/n). There's no one there right now since Eri's at daycare so here are the keys," He shrugged his yellow sleeping back up over his head. "Bye."

I just barely managed to catch the keys and by the time Kirishima'd opened his mouth to respond, Shota'd already shuffled out of the room. Quite quickly for a mode of transportation such as a sleeping bag.

I watched after him for a moment. Then turned to Kirishima to apologize.

"Sorry you got stuck with me."

I would tell him that I'd be fine walking home by myself and he could head out, but truth be told I was a little nervous to be alone these days. Especially out in the city where villain attacks were so frequent. I knew that I shouldn't fear villains, being in a school meant for training future heroes and all, but I couldn't help fear being put back in the situation I'd only just been saved from. Or one even remotely similar. So I kept my mouth shut and decided to just deal with the minute guilt of making him put up with me.

"Oh it's not a problem at all! It wouldn't be very manly of me to let you walk home alone, would it?" He offered a sharp toothed grin and gave an encouraging thumbs up. Then his expression faltered and he continued, slightly less enthusiastic. "Uh, I am curious though. Why are you living with our teacher?"

"Uhm-"

"No pressure answering of course! I just.. wasn't expecting that. You're not his daughter are you?"

I scratched the back of my neck and adjusted my bag on my shoulder awkwardly. "Uh no, I think Shota's like 31, so he'd have to have been around our age when he.. uhm.. had me."

"Right, that makes sense." Kirishima blushed.

"Yeah, I'm just living with him because of his connections with UA and Eri. UA's supposed to be keeping watch over me and I know Eri from a long time ago, we're really close."

"Oh, yeah! I think I heard Midoriya mention something about you knowing Eri! Small world, huh?"

"I guess so," I brushed a hand through my hair. "Should we get going?"

"Oh yeah, sure!"

Kirishima grabbed his bag and then joined me at the door, which he held open for me politely as we left the classroom.

"Thanks Kiri."

"No problem." He grinned.

As we made it out of the building and to the gate I noticed a familiar figure and asked Kirishima to wait a moment while I quickened my pace to reach them.

"Hey."

"Oh, (n/n) hey." Kyouka smiled, leaning against the gate.

"Are you waiting for someone?" I asked.

"Um I just wanted to catch you before you left and say bye. Since I won't see you 'till Monday and all." She mumbled, twisting an ear jack around her pointer finger. I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of my skirt and smiled warmly.

"So you were waiting for me?" Just the idea itself would have been enough to make my day had she not made it already.

After every group had finished their Friday community service we'd all been called to meet back in homeroom for some announcements and dismissal for the weekend. There Kyouka had asked me nervously if next time we could try to stick together whilst volunteering, as she thought it would be more enjoyable with me by her side. I had agreed.

Anything would be more enjoyable with her by my side.

"I guess I am." She smirked, breaking me from my thoughts. I blushed and she cleared her throat.

"So, um," She straightened her posture and separated from the wall which she'd been leaning on. "Have a great weekend, (n/n). I'll see you on Monday then."

"See you Monday, Kyouka." I bid her goodbye.

Kirishima caught up just as she'd begun to walk away and offered a small wave, which she reciprocated with a small wave of her own before disappearing around the corner.

"Bye, Jirou!" He called and bumped his shoulder against mine with a grin. "Did I just hear you call her Kyouka?"

"Huh?" I blushed. "Right, yeah."

"No elaboration? Okay that's fine, I can make my own assumptions anyway."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, frowning.

"Oh, we all have our own assumptions about the two of you." He laughed heartily.

"Oh." I wasn't quite sure what he meant, but decided not to pry and instead began the walk back to Shotas apartment. Kirishima followed suit quickly, matching my pace and still smiling to himself.

As we walked I decided to make some conversation. Specifically on a subject I'd been wondering about since joining class 2A and meeting all of my now-fellow classmates.

"Kiri," I began.

"Yes?"

"How come you're so close with Bakugo? He doesn't seem nearly as bad as I've heard some of our other peers describe him, but he certainly doesn't seem easy to get close to. How'd you do it? Or possibly more importantly, why'd you do it?"

Kirishima looked at me, a look of slight surprise on his face, then smiled. "Well it's like you said, he's really not as bad as everyone says. Besides, I got him to open up to me about some of his insecurities and worries a while back, so now I don't think he'll let me stop being his friend. At the very least to make sure I don't spill his weaknesses out of spite." He laughed lightly.

"Huh. So you're saying the best way to get close to someone is to make them open up to you in a moment of vulnerability and trust and then use whatever they reveal to blackmail them into never leaving you?"

"WHAT? NO! NO, NO! DON'T DO THAT!" Kirishima threw his hands up and waved them in front of my face to make sure he had my attention. "That's not what I meant! The gaining their trust part, yes, but not the betraying it part!"

"Oh. Okay." It didn't make much sense to me anyway, I don't know why he was so worried.

Kirishima sighed in relief. Clearly glad that I understood. Or.. somewhat understood.

"Why are you asking anyway? I doubt that you're that curious about Bakubro. So is there someone you're hoping to get closer to?"

I thought for a moment in silence, but came up with no answer.

"Possibly.. a certain purple haired guitarist?" He teased.

"You say that jokingly.. but.."

"Wait, really?! Well I think that's awesome, man! Jirou needs good people around her, but I don't think you need any of my advice. I would say the two of you are already exceptionally close!"

"You think?"

"Yeah, totally!"

If that was the case, then why was she so weird at the hospital today? She kept asking me all those odd questions that I didn't really have good answers to, but I didn't mind that part at all. The part that bothered me was that she clearly seemed to have something else on her mind. Something else that she wanted to say. If we were close, wouldn't she have felt comfortable talking to me about whatever it was?

Maybe I was worrying too much.

"Hmm. Why don't you think about something else for now. Like puppies. You look like you're worrying too much. "

Mind reader.

"What kind of puppies should I think about then?" I prompted, humoring him.

"Cool ones." He answered confidently.

"Cool ones you say? What constitutes a cool puppy?"

"I don't know, I think it's cute when they have the hiccups."

"Well are we talking about cool or cute? Those are two completely different concepts."

"Either way. What do you think?"

"I don't have an opinion on the matter, I've never really met a puppy."

"You- WHAT?!"

We continued talking about light matters for a while, the topic of Jirou resurfacing here and there, but before long we had arrived at the front of Shota's apartment. I was fine on my own from there on out, but Kirishima insisted on waiting at the bottom of the stairs to make sure I got inside okay.

As soon as I'd unlocked the door I waved goodbye to him, letting him know he could leave, and he reciprocated the gesture. Then he stuffed his hands in his uniform pockets and made his way down the street the rest of the way to where I assumed lay his house.

Once he was gone I stepped inside the apartment and closed and locked the door behind me. I turned to the kitchen and took in a deep breath. Smells like mold and apples. And.. sleep somehow?

Whatever the smell, it felt nice to be back.

I glanced at the fridge, where I remembered the calendar hung, and placed my finger on today's date.

Togata picking Eri up from daycare at 6:45

Good, so it's not long until Eri'll be home. Until then I guess I'll just hang around.

I poured myself a glass of water from the sink and then went into me and Eri's room. There had been some new additions to Eri's wall of drawings since I'd been here last, I figured there was not much else to do but look through them until she and Mirio got here.

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