Chapter 5 - Super Good Great Friend

The next day, Kirishima invited you to have lunch at his table. You happily agreed until you walked in and realized it was the same table as that aggressive hedgehog, Bakugou. He had his right foot propped on the chair beside him, with his own at an angle to the circular table. His hands were moving animatedly, as if telling a story to the electric blond across from him. You made up your mind to not let Bakugou ruin your meal. Gripping the chair his foot was planted on, you swung it out wide. His leg fell sharply.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Bakugou leered at you, small sparks leaving his palm.

You sat down on the newly available seat, exuding calm. "Good afternoon to you too Bakugou. And I'm eating with Kiri of course," you answered brightly, resting your head briefly on the redhead's shoulder once he sat beside you. The boy blushed slightly and averted his eyes from his friends.

"No fair! You guys are on nickname terms already?! Bakugou, why don't we have cute nicknames?" Kaminari playfully whined, throwing an arm around Bakugou.

I think he's too dumb to have any fear.

"Because if you ever call me by a nickname you dunce face, I'll cremate you!" Bakugou hissed, aggressively shrugging Kaminari's arm from across his shoulder. You let a small chuckle slip before taking a spoonful of soup to your mouth.

"Dunce Face is a kind of nickname, wouldn't you say?" Sero chimed in as he placed his lunch tray on the table. Bakugou gave an exasperated sigh.

"Where's your partner Sero?" you asked, ignoring Bakugou.

"I'm with Midoriya. He's sitting with his buddies like usual." You looked over to the table with Tsuyu, Iida, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Izuku. Uraraka must have been telling a story, and Izuku was beaming at her like she was the sun. How sweet...

"No big deal though. He's crazy smart and trains all the time. I'm in the clear!" Sero answered with a triumphant smile on his face.

"That means you're the dead weight, dumbass," Bakugou growled as he ripped a bag of chips open. Sero looked like he wanted to protest, but then thought better of it and started to eat his pork bowl with a furrowed brow.

"What do you normally do for training?" you asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well quirk-wise, I push myself to shoot my tape faster and longer. I'm even trying to figure out different stickiness levels!" He looked so proud. Why does that sound dirty? "For strength stuff though, I just go to the weight room most days with these guys after lunch."

Your ears perked up. "Can I come too?"

"You want to lift with us?" mumbled Kirishima, chopsticks still in his mouth.

"Of course! If I'm gonna keep tying down Bakugou, I have to stay strong," you said with a smirk to the angry boy.

"FUCK YOU ASHTRAY! I'LL BE THE ONE TYING YOU DOWN NEXT TIME!" He stood, towering over your seat, his hands beginning to glow once more. He screamed loud enough for the whole lunch room to hush and heads to turn in the direction of your table.

"God Bakugou. You really are a kinky bastard, aren't you?" You looked up teasing. His eyebrows raised, the double entendre dawning on him. His ears turned pink.

"I'll see you assholes in the fucking weight room." He angrily ripped his tray from the table and stalked toward the door. You chuckled to yourself before all the boys around you burst into belly laughs.

"Oh my God [y/n]. You are something else. I don't think I've ever seen him get embarrassed like that!" Kaminari practically wheezed. "Seriously. Marry me." Per your usual response, you shook your head, but your eyes still followed the explosive boy as he left the lunchroom.

***

"This isn't a boys' only weight room, is it?" you tentatively asked as you stepped into the long, dark space. Machines covered the room for legs, arms, abs. There were dozens of free weights along the mirrored left wall and a square purple mat meant for sit-ups and the like lay closest to the locker rooms. It smelled like sweat, metal, and way too much testosterone. There wasn't a girl in sight.

You could see Bakugou in the far back doing chest presses at an impressive rate. He's probably trying to press away some of his embarrassment.

"It's co-ed. I just don't think the girls like to work out near us," Sero said with a pout. You let out a little hum, popped in your headphones and walked over to the squat rack.

"Hey partner-" Kirishima looked up from tying his shoe- "can I get a spot?" He smiled at your question and jogged over to the rack.

"You wanna take some weight off first?" Kaminari asked, looking at the bar already holding 60kg worth of plates. You quickly braided your hair back, did a few quick stretches, and got into position removing no weight.

1...2...

You pumped through your set, letting the last rep land back into the holder with a satisfying 'clink'. You removed your headphones and smiled at the boys' surprised faces. "Would you like me to remove a few plates for you?" you teased, watching their mouths finally close.

"You are the manliest girl I've ever met!" Kirishima said in a tone that seemed you should take it as a compliment.

"Thanks? I think..." you muttered before asking, "Do you want me to spot you Kiri? Or are you working something specific today?"

Your time in the weight room moved quickly with you and Kirishima taking turns as each other's spotters. He joked he would just harden himself if he accidentally dropped something, but you felt better standing above him in case his reflexes weren't fast enough.

The room filled out as more students finished eating and came to begin their workouts. A group of tall third years congregated near the leg press, happily chatting while taking turns. A solo boy focused on rows and flys near the vending machine. A duo of thinner guys tossed a medicine ball back and forth. There didn't appear to be any first years in the room. As it was only their second day - like you, you reminded yourself - they likely didn't even know it existed yet.

You attracted a lot of attention, partly because you were the only girl, partly because of how much you were lifting. You caught Kaminari and Sero ogling your second and third sets of squats from behind before Kirishima shooed them away.

After 30 minutes you had to call a quits to have enough time to rinse off and head back to class. You waved off the boys as you headed toward your designated locker rooms. You paused as you touched the door, quickly turning around for your forgotten water bottle, only to come face to face with Bakugou.

"Your deadlift form is shit," he huffed at you.

"Is not!" you snapped back, more in shock at his closeness than his comment.

"Fine, throw out your fucking back for all I care." He pulled a towel off his shoulder to wipe his face and started to walk away. The fact that he had said anything to you after your lunch period mishap was surprising. You swallowed your pride.

"Would you show me then?" He barely turned his head, but you saw you'd captured his attention. A big swallow. "Please?"

The gym had cleared out with classes starting back up soon, but Bakugou scanned the empty room anyway before turning to you and grabbing your wrist. He pulled you toward the mirrored wall so you could watch and mimic his form. You grabbed onto a bar and tried to copy.

"No, you idiot. You need to bend your knees more or you'll hurt yourself." You bent your knees and pulled up. "You're still pulling from your back. Keep it flat like this." He placed his hand against your lower back without thinking. It was so warm. Your eyes widened and a pink tint spread across your cheeks. You lifted the bar, but his hand didn't leave the small of your back until you both caught sight of yourselves in the mirror.

The bar dropped to the mat. "Got it!" you practically shouted at him, a little too flustered. "That felt better. Less...strain..." He hummed in response before quickly grabbing his towel and walking to the locker room. His face appeared flushed too.

***

"So, what was before the Muromachi period then?" you asked Todoroki as you scribbled notes to yourself in a yellow binder.

"The Kamakura period. But I don't think we're going back that far for this unit. It'll be Muromachi onward," Todoroki answered patiently. You had been doing homework together for about an hour, mainly you asking questions and him answering in short, effective statements.

You glanced up from your notebook, watching the half-and-half boy flip through a mathematics textbook, looking bored. You couldn't put your finger on it, but something about him made you want to shake him and tell him to just let loose. He was so reserved. You wanted to crack him out of his shell.

"Hey Todoroki," you finally tried to break the formality of the evening, "what do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah. You know, like your hobbies?"

"I like movies, I guess..." he answered warily.

"What kind?" you pushed on, hoping he'd give a little more.

"Anything really. Action, comedy, slice of life..." His tone perked up just a touch.

"We should go sometime!" You smiled, but quickly added, "a bunch of the class, I mean..." when you saw his eyebrows draw together.

"Yeah. I think that would be nice." He gave a soft smile and returned his gaze to his textbook.

***

The rest of the week followed much of the same pattern. The sense of order was calming. While you'd only been at UA a short while, you felt like you were starting to make it your own. You'd wake up, run, go to morning class, eat lunch with the boys, lift (Bakugou even worked out near your little group on the third day), attend afternoon hero training, have dinner, study and work on homework with Todoroki, hang out with your new friends, and stretch before bed. They were simple, everyday actions, but it made you feel secure, like you could really call this place a home.

"You know I was talking to Todoroki earlier this week, and we were thinking about getting a group together to see a movie this weekend," you mentioned casually at breakfast to Mina and Uraraka Ochako (she insisted on first names) on Friday morning.

"We should make a whole day of it!" squeaked Mina, suddenly very excited. "I'll round up the troops and we can all go to the mall that has that big multiplex! Even if we don't all see the same movie, it could be fun!" She sprinted away from the table before you could even offer a counter plan.

"I guess we're going to the mall and the multiplex." You quickly blinked at Ochako.

"It'll be good for you to get to see everyone out of the school setting. It's great living in the dorms, but it's nice to go out and do normal weekend things," she said sweetly.

"Are you going to invite Izuku?" you asked nonchalantly, taking a bite of cereal.

"What... why? Why would you say that?!" she stammered back at you.

"Oh, I just thought... sorry," you mumbled, running your hands through your hair a few too many times. "You guys seem so close, so I assumed..." Her face turned beet red.

"We're good friends. Great friends! Super good great friends..." she rambled, waving her hands nervously.

"Well, I just wish I had a super good great friend who looked at me like that," you said softly, nudging her shoulder slightly. If it was possible, her face turned even redder.