"(n/n), (n/n)! Guess what!" Eri yelled happily as I heard the front door open.

I exhaled heavily in relief, it'd been twenty five or so minutes since she should have been home and I'd begun to worry a few minutes ago.

"What is it?" I asked as I stood from the couch to meet her at the door, embracing her in a heartfelt greeting hug as I arrived.

"Well me and Mirio went to a cat café after school and it was amazing! And there was this really really cute cat with black fur and it curled up in my lap! So I told Mirio that I really really wanted a kitten just like that one, but then he walked away and said he had to call Zaza. And then he came back!" Eri paused her fast-paced monologue to take in one large breath before continuing. "And he said that he told Zaza what I said and that Zaza said he'd always liked cats! And that we could get one! We get to have a cat, (n/n), a cat!!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck tightly, nuzzling her face into my neck where she grinned ecstatically.

My eyes widened as I hugged her back. A cat? I'd never had a pet before, even when I lived with my parents it was always just the three of us.

I might like a cat.

Eri'll like a cat.

So, this is good. I tucked my chin down so Eri could see my face and smiled widely.

"That's wonderful, Eri!" I exclaimed, making sure she knew I was just as excited as she was so as not to put any sort of damper on her joyous mood.

"Mhm! And he said we can go pick up the kitty TOMORROW so that you get to play with it before you go back to school!"

"Tomorrow, really? Wow, that's great!" I hugged Eri a little tighter to my chest briefly before letting her back down to the ground and extracting myself from her embrace.

"Mhm!" Eri grinned. She then looked behind me to the coffee table where I'd strewn some school work that I had brought home from school and been working on. Her eyes lit up and she returned her gaze to me. "SCHOOL!" She squealed.

"Huh?!" I flinched, surprised at the sudden exclamation.

"How was it?! I know you were really excited! So how did it go? Did you make a lot of friends? Did you talk to Deku a lot? Or that cool girl who came over here, did you talk to her? What was her name.. Ji- Juri- Jurou-"

"Jirou, but I've started calling her Kyouka more recently. And yeah, we've talked." I corrected quietly, looking away as I felt a gentle blush creep onto my face at the mention of her.

"Cool! And Deku?" Eri quickly moved on from the subject of the purple haired girl, clearly not as caught up on her as I.

"We talked a bit. I can see why you're so attached to him, he is quite caring and intelligent."

"Yeah! Like you!"

"Huh?" Eri's sudden attack of adorable kindness caught me off guard and I smiled softly. "T-thank you."

"Of course!" The younger girl took my hand. "Now, let's go. We need to brainstorm kitty names and I want to hear more about your first week at hero school."

"Alright, sounds like a plan." I responded as I let myself be dragged through the small apartment by the hand.

As I was dragged I recalled what Kirishima had said earlier when he'd walked me home. 'We all have our assumptions about you two'. I wondered if that was true. And if it was, if Kyouka had overheard any of those assumptions and therefore thought about me in that way. Or if she hadn't, I wondered if she'd ever think of me in that way.

I guess I'll find out at some point when I return to school. For now, I figured it was best to live in the moment. With me, my sister, and Shota. And soon, with a.. cat?

We sat down on Eri's bed in our room and she pulled out a sheet of paper from her drawing stack and a crayon.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, hand readied to document.

"What do I think?"

"Yeah, what do you think we should call the kitty?"

"U-um," I hadn't planned for input and tried to think up cat names on the fly. "I don't know, crusty, musty, rusty?"

"You're awful at this," Eri stated. I laughed nervously in agreement. "Okay then, you just sit there and think about it and I'll write my ideas down."

I nodded in acknowledgment.

Me and Eri sat there together for a long time, and as the minutes went by and more and more anxiety lifted off of my shoulders I realized how much I really value my time with her. After about two hours of talking I went silent, thinking about this.

Eri looked at me and cocked her head questioningly as if to say 'are you okay, (n/n)?'

I patted her on the head and leaned against her.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"For what?" She asked quizzically, putting down her sheet of chaotic kitten names to face me.

"Just for.. being in my life." I smiled.

I was about to elaborate when I heard a knock at the door.

"Zaza's home!" Eri exclaimed and jumped off of the bed to rush to the bedroom door. Before she left the room she seemed to realize that she'd interrupted me and rushed back to offer me a small kiss on the forehead. "Sorry!" Then she ran out.

I smiled, thinking to myself how lucky I was to have a sister like her. Then I got up to greet Shota as well when-

"You're not Zaza." I heard Eri's voice state from the living room. I furrowed my brows in question first, then my brain went into panic mode.

It's not Shota? Did Eri accidentally just let a stranger into the house? Is it the LOV? Did they finally come for me? Oh god oh g-

"This is our guest, Eri. You know Bakugo."

"What." I deadpanned.

I made my way through the hallway with haste only to find Shota standing, indeed, next to my hot headed classmate, Bakugo.

"What." I repeated.

"Tch. Hello to you too, weirdo."

I ignored him and turned to Shota to ask, not in annoyance but in curiosity; "What's he doing here?"

Shota sighed. "Apparently there was a miscommunication about going home for the weekend with his family-"

"Specifically with my old hag," Bakugo interjected as he crouched down to glare at Eri, who floofed his hair aggressively in loving greeting. "Apparently she'd planned a vacation for herself and my old man and forgot to tell me about it or something."

"So, in short, he'll be staying on our couch for the weekend," Shota finished. "Eri, could you show him where we keep the extra blankets?"

Eri nodded, 'gently' grabbed a fistful of Bakugo's hair, and skipped along to the hallway with him in tow, shouting curses. Shota just waved it off and turned to me briefly.

"His mother was very angry on the phone." He turned to walk to his bedroom and grumbled something along the lines of 'I hate being a teacher' and 'this was not in the job description'.

I giggled to myself, knowing that while the latter was probably true and an understandable sentiment, the former was most definitely a lie. My brief joy ceased abruptly, however, upon realizing that he had just gone to sleep and the rest of us had yet to eat dinner.

"How did he manage parenting Eri on his own for so long." I mumbled to myself, knowing full well that he was a wonderful teacher and father figure, but genuinely worried for his constant overlooking of a child's fundamental needs.

I could faintly hear Eri and Bakugo's one sided argument from the linens closet as I glanced over to the kitchen to check our lone clock, which hung above the stove and always happened to be a minute or two off. 9:00.

I yawned. It was already close to Eri's bedtime, and since I often went to sleep at the same time as her to avoid waking her at odd hours of the night, close to mine as well. Still, I guessed it was up to me to make sure Bakugo was settled in before I went to bed. But before I did that I figured I could go ahead and tuck Eri in.

"Eri!" I called as I made my way back to our bedroom, making sure to raise my volume enough that she'd hear me over our 'guest''s incessant yelling. She came running quickly, a large grin plastered across her small face.

"You've gotten so much louder!" She exclaimed, "You were so quiet before, like you were sad. But you don't seem so sad anymore! You're loud now."

I felt my face grow hot out of embarrassment, but over all I felt touched by her words.

"I guess I have gotten louder, haven't I?" With that, I guided her into our room and proceeded to tuck her into bed. She was fairly eager to get to sleep because 'the sooner she fell asleep the sooner she'd get to see our new cat'.

Just another eventful day I suppose. One in many so far. And I guess one in many to go.

After saying goodnight and promising to be quiet when I returned to go to sleep so as not to wake her, I walked back into the living room where Bakugo had already set up the couch into a makeshift bed.

"Oh, I guess I don't have much to help with, huh?"

He turned to notice me standing there observing his work and shrugged.

"Guess not. Why, did'ya doubt my abilities or something?"

"No." I answered shortly. Bakugo looked back and forth with his trademark glare in between me and the spot next to him on the couch which I'd been unconsciously eyeing. He scowled.

"What, do you want to talk or something?"

"Oh.." I guess part of me did want to talk. About what, I don't know. My mind just saw this as another opportunity to get to know someone my age. A luxury I'd missed out on for so many years.

Maybe I'd been quiet for too long because Bakugo just went on speaking instead of waiting for me to answer.

"D'ya want to talk about boys or something? Cuz I'm sorry, but I ain't gonna help you there," He growled teasingly. "If you want romantic advice go to raccoon eyes or somethin."

I furrowed my brows and stated the blatant truth, "I have no romantic interest in 'boys' as of the moment."

Bakugo patted the spot next to him. Was he really asking me to sit? Seems a little suspicious coming from him..

Then he crossed his arms and leaned back with a triumphant grin. "Knew it."

"Knew what?" I asked, growing impatient with his vague nature.

"That you're gay. It's pretty fvckin obvious. To me at least, those other blind idiots in our class likely haven't noticed."

"That I'm ga-?"

"Or bi or pan or queer or whatever else. Whichever it is it's clear that you are at least attracted to the same sex. We know our people when we see 'em." He cut me off.

"We know ou-?"

"More specifically one person of the same sex. Shitty hair sees it too, y'know."

At this my face flushed a bright red.

"You mean K-Kyouka? I- um-"

Before I spoke anymore I forced myself for the first time to really think on it. Kirishima'd mentioned it. Bakugo just blatantly stated it. Apparently there were others who suspected it. But.. what did my relationship with Kyouka really mean to.. me?

..I find her very handsome. Or pretty. Or whatever the right word is to fit exactly just how much she glows..

..Every day I want to learn more about her..

..She's one of the biggest reasons I can be loud today, to put it as Eri did..

..She's my smile..

..She's my joy..

..My excitement and motivation..

..She's my curiosity for this new world I've been thrown into.

..Meeting her may have been one of the most meaningful occasions of my life and if I'd been anywhere else that day but in the forest trying to figure out a way to tame my beast of a quirk and introducing myself to the purple haired musician.. then I wouldn't be as sure right now of myself..

..And of how I feel..

You'd think that love would be a hard thing to decipher from other positive feelings. Especially for someone as little accustomed to life outside a villain's prison as me. But it's quite clear now.

My eyes widened.

"So what do I do now?"

"Now that what..?"

"Y'know, love. What do I do with that?"

Bakugo snorted. "What a confession."

I ignored his sarcasm and continued to stare, waiting for a genuine answer.

"Now you leave me alone and let me go to sleep. I've done my part here, now I don't have to watch you two dimwits dancing around each other's feelings like idiots. And don't even think about bothering me with this stuff when we go back to school."

As he finished growling out his threat, Bakugo turned away and laid his head down on the pillow, making it clear now he was done talking to me.

I nodded, not expecting much else from him and muttered a quick 'thanks' before standing up.

Just before I went back to me and Eri's bedroom, however, I couldn't help but question one more thing.

"So.. you and Kiri..?" I whispered back.

"LEAVE." Bakugo yelled. I turned to leave as I was asked, but just before he covered himself with his blankets I did manage to catch a glimpse of beet red cheeks beneath Bakugo's wild hair.

As I drifted off to sleep I couldn't help but think about how unprepared I'd been for the dramatics that is teen love.