Chapter 30 - Good Night's Sleep

The police station was bustling.

A tall, brown-haired man who introduced himself as Officer Tsukauchi led you, Kirishima, Shouji and Bakugou into a small sitting room. A pink well-worn couch was below a high window on the left wall and a small table with four wooden chairs sat near the right. A threadbare gold oriental rug connected the two spaces.

"Thank you all for coming," Tsukauchi said. "He doesn't want to talk to anyone but you." You took a cup of tea off a tray another officer passed to you. The brew was dark and bitter, not what you had expected. Your eyes flicked over to Bakugou, the darkest and most bitter in the room.  

"Anything we can do to help," Shouji said, politely waving away the tray as a cup was offered to him. Tsukauchi left the room and returned a few minutes later with a middle-aged indigo haired man. He had deep circles under his eyes, a dusting of stubble on his chin, and kept peering over his shoulder. Hermes.

"Hoji-san, please take a seat." Tsukauchi led the man to the couch, the most comfortable of the seating options in the room. Hermes, or Hoji you now knew, gently lowered himself onto the pink cushions, his hands shaking slightly. "You said you wanted to speak with the heroes that saved you. Here they are." Tsukauchi motioned toward the four of you.

"But they're children," Hoji finally spoke.

"Tsk. Doesn't mean we're not heroes." You heard Bakugou mumble from over your left shoulder.

"We're UA students sir. We're in the hero program. We were on an internship when we came to Kyoto." You tried to keep your tone kind and easy.

"You're the one from the room." His eyes grew wide when he recognized you. "It was so dark, but I recognize your voice." You smiled softly.

"Yes. I'm Cinder. I'm glad you're alright." His eyes began to well with tears. You weren't expecting that. Kirishima managed to find a tissue box and passed it over to him.

"And you're the one who brought me downstairs." His gaze settled on Kirishima.

"Yes sir. I'm Red Riot sir." Kirishima scratched at the back of his neck, not sure how to respond to the man's awe.

"What did you want to tell us Hoji-san?" You pulled his attention back to you.

"I wanted to confess." Your eyes went wide as your gaze snapped up to Tsukauchi. You weren't a police officer. He shouldn't be confessing to you. But Tsukauchi simply nodded, before he tilted his head toward a camera on the wall. The police would get all the information on tape.

"About what?" you asked. It seemed you would be leading this discussion. He'd imprinted on you.

"He sent that horrible blonde woman to the office and she would bring bags of computer chips to implant into all the Hero Association communication devices. He threatened me and my family if I didn't package and distribute his goods." The man fiddled with the tissue in his hands.

"What's the woman's name?"

"Janus." You looked up at Tsukauchi. He shook his head. He'd never heard the name.

"And who is 'he'?"

"They call him The Hacker."  

"What's his quirk?" Kirishima chimed in. It made Hoji jump slightly.

"Something with technology, electronics."

"So, he tampered with the chips? What do the chips do?" you questioned, feeling like you might finally get some answers. The man shrugged.

"I don't know." Your hope dissipated.

"Do you have any more of the chips Janus delivered to the office?"

"No."

"How is this a confession?" Bakugou mumbled again. You snapped your head back to glare at him. He rolled his eyes. You turned back to the shivering man, your eyes soft.

"Thank you for telling us this Hoji-san."

***

Tsukauchi ushered the four of you out into the hall, giving Hoji a moment alone.

"What was the point of that? He doesn't know anything!" Bakugou sneered, pinching the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated.

"That's not true. He confirmed the name of The Hacker and the blonde lady Janus," Kirishima said, trying to sound positive.

"And we know they've been putting specific chips into the communication tech, the tech that goes to the Hero Association. Clearly that's their target," Shouji added.

"We have to follow the solid evidence. We now know that there is tech floating around out there that contain a modified chip. But we do not know which pieces of tech contain it or what this new chip is meant to do." Tsukauchi seemed to puzzle.

"We can't exactly tell everyone to just throw out all their equipment," you said, hoping the officer had a solution.

"We can at least recall any Gorgon equipment. We've confiscated Gorgon's distribution records for the last few months and will be checking specified deliveries. If we can find any shipments with these new chips, hopefully we can get them out of circulation."

"You actually think they kept records of shady black-market dealings? And does it even matter?! If they're going to change distributors, we'll be back at square one!" Bakugou nearly threw a punch at the wall, but Kirishima blocked his path, hardening just in case.

"We've collected some tech that was still on the packaging table. With any luck we'll be able to figure out if they're tainted," Tsukauchi tried to reassure.

"Well, let us know if you find anything else. We want to help," you said, your tone more dejected than hopeful. You looked back through the small window into the sitting room where Hoji sat on the couch, hugging himself and rocking back and forth. Your heart broke for him.

From the corner of your eye you saw the ash blond storm off toward the exit.

"Bakugou, wait!" Kirishima called.

"I'll go get him." You pushed passed your friends and followed Bakugou out of the building.

"Bakugou." The boy didn't stop. You rolled your eyes and huffed before sprinting down the sidewalk and stepping in front of him. "Stop! For one goddamn second would you stop and talk to me? I know you're frustrated about this. So am I, but that's no reason to act like a brat. That man was traumatized."

Bakugou stopped walking but his eyes lingered on the pavement.

"You've been distant to me ever since we got back," your voice cracked, suddenly more emotional than you'd intended. He glanced up at you, looking more nervous than angry. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it just as quickly. Huffing, he pushed past you, bumping your shoulder.

"Very mature," you called out to him, feeling yourself deflate.

***

"You're with us tonight [y/n]." Mina slid over the back of the couch and plopped down beside you.

"For what?" You closed the book for literature class you had open, not really reading it. You were in your own world thinking about your visit to the police station. You folded the corner of the page so as not to lose your place.

"Girls' night!" Ochako bounced over.

"You've been here for over two months and we haven't had a proper sleepover. Honestly, I'm embarrassed with myself," Mina exaggerated.

"Like painting nails and watching romcoms, kind of girls' night? Or stealing booze and making out with boys, kind of girls' night?" you asked matter-of-factly.

"The first one! Oh my God! Have you actually had the second kind?" Ochako's eyes were wide and anxious.

"Well, not recently," you joked. Mina winked at you and your cheeks turned pink. "I just didn't know what you guys got up to here."

"I'm game for both," said Mina, seeming to actually consider it. You and Ochako looked at her warily. "But it seems like you nuns aren't, so we'll stick with makeup, movies, cookies, and games."

***

You knocked on Mina's door a few hours later, dressed in your only pair of pajamas. As you typically just wore your over-sized band T-shirts to bed, you'd had to dig through all your drawers to find a silky blue shirt and shorts set covered in cartoon penguin print.

"It's open!" Yaoyorozu's voice came through the door. You turned the knob, holding your lone pillow in your opposite hand, and entered. The rest of the girls were already inside. Mina was curling Ochako's hair by her desk using one of the free outlets. Yaoyorozu put several cookies onto a plate before handing them to Tsuyu. Jirou was bent over her phone next to Mina's speakers trying to decide on a playlist for the evening and Toru held a floating bowl of candy.

"Yay! Now we're all here!" Toru's squeaked. You tossed your pillow on the ground near Jirou and gave her a reserved smile. "Time to pick a movie that we'll all ignore because we'll end up talking over it." She held up four DVD cases. You chuckled at the inevitability.

***

True to form, you didn't end up paying any attention to the movie. After ten minutes Mina started playing with your hair. She had finished with Ochako's.

"Why don't you ever wear it down? It's always in this braid." She removed the tie at the end of the plait and brushed out the soft waves that formed from being layered all day.

"Because I train all day long and it's easier to just braid it back than worry about a style." You self-consciously touched your now free locks.

"But it's so pretty all loose!" Ochako wrapped a small tendril around her finger.

"We should all give each other date looks!" Toru chirped. "Like how we dolled up [y/n] for the gala! I have a ton more dresses."

"And I have makeup and hair stuff!" Mina high-fived Toru. How did she know where her hand was?

"For what dates?" Jirou said dryly, still sitting near the speakers.

"It would be nice to know what we could look like if we did ever... I mean if we happened to..." Ochako bounced her index fingers together coyly, her face blushing slightly. You could tell she was thinking about Izuku.

"I agree with Ochako-chan. It's nice to have a game plan if you get asked." You shot your friend a soft smile.

"Says the only girl with dates," Yaoyorozu said darkly. All eyes turned to her.

"Excuse me?" You tried not to sound too defensive.

"You went to the gala with Todoroki-kun and everyone in Japan heard Bakugou screaming about how you kissed Kirishima. It seems like you have lots of dates." All the eyes on Yaoyorozu swiveled to you. Mina and Ochako stopped playing with your hair. Jirou pretended not to be peering over her phone screen. You gulped and paled. You'd have to say something.

"We're friends," you choked out, your throat suddenly very dry.

"That sounds like more than friends [y/n]-chan, kiro," Tsuyu chimed in.

"She's not lying." Jirou came to your defense. "At least about Kirishima. Bakugou's my partner and he'd been acting super weird, so I listened in on his and Kirishima's conversation that day." You silently thanked her for leaving you out of the spying story.

"We kissed. But we decided we're better friends. It was kind of a heat-of-the-moment, just-rescued-a-guy thing." You played with your fingers, not making eye contact with any of the girls.

"And Todoroki-kun?" Yaoyorozu questioned. Your gut tightened. You couldn't tell her about the almost kiss and you wouldn't betray Todoroki's confidence and come right out and tell Yaoyorozu that he actually fancied her instead. The air felt heavier around you. You decided to go with a different form of the truth.

"Shouto told me he was worried that you all thought he was still the cold, detached guy from last year. He's proud of who he is now. He liked that I was new and didn't know his history." You looked into Yaoyorozu's eyes, daring her to challenge you. She looked genuinely shaken.

"Why would anyone hold that against him? We've all changed since the beginning of last year," Ochako said at last.

"Clearly you don't hold it against him." You scanned your gaze over each girl. "As his friend and his partner, I think it would be really nice if you could let him know that."

Yaoyorozu stood from her seat on the floor and grabbed a pair of earrings from Mina's dresser. "I think these would look really pretty on you [y/n]." A peace offering. You exhaled.

***

With the elephant in the room elegantly handled, the girl's night took on a lighter tone. At some point Mina had pulled out a bottle of vodka and all the girls helped themselves to a few cocktails (after some initial hesitation). By 11 p.m. everyone was dressed and made-up in their 'date' outfits. Mina and Toru had styled everyone.

Yaoyorozu was draped in a gorgeous purple kimono, her hair piled high, with bright red lips. Mina had pulled a tight red mini-dress and accessorized with dozens of gold bangles and a metallic headband. Toru dug through her own closet and came back with a silver crop top and leggings. She looked like a walking disco ball. Jirou opted to remain punky so Mina outfitted her with every fishnet and studded item she could find and added heavy winged eye liner. You were dressed in a skintight black leather jumpsuit and red high heels, apparently aiming to pull off the Olivia Newton John in Grease vibe. Tsuyu went for the girl-next-door look with a cute white and black polka-dot dress. She asked for you to braid her hair like your day-to-day style. Ochako found a pink baby doll dress in Mina's closet and paired it with silver ballet flats. Ochako's and Tsuyu's were probably the only looks that could (should?) actually be worn on a real date.

"Jirou Kyouka! Truth or Dare?!" Mina's voice was louder than necessary.

"Dare," the dark-haired girl replied.

"I dare you to go knock on Denki's room and give him a peck on the cheek." You turned to face Jirou, intensely interested, half a cookie hanging from your lips. Jirou wrapped her earjacks around her face, as if that could hide her blushing. "C'mon you have to do it. It's the indisputable rules of truth or dare!"

Tsuyu held out a relatively full glass of vodka soda to her friend. Jirou grabbed the glass, took a large swig, grimaced at the sharp taste, and stood. "Ugh, fine."

"I'll follow and report back!" Toru bounced to her feet and followed Jirou out of the room.

***

"He's so confused! It was adorable!" Toru burst through the door a minute later, Jirou looking mortified behind her. "Sero and Kirishima were in the room too playing Mario Kart. I wish I had taken a video!"

"My fucking turn," Jirou said, cutting Toru off and shoving her embarrassment down. "[y/n], truth or dare?" You looked up, suddenly very nervous, even with a bit of liquid courage warming your stomach.

"Truth?"

"If you don't like Kirishima or Todoroki, is there someone you do like?" You met her eyes. They seemed suddenly very sober and serious.

Does she know something?

"I've only been here two months..." you tried to dodge the question.

"Fine, different question. Who do you think the best-looking boy in the class is? You can have an opinion on that in two months." A knowing smirk was painted on her face.

"Just because someone's attractive doesn't mean I like them."

"Just answer the question [y/n]. We all know the cutest boy in the class in Todoroki-kun," Yaoyorozu said, her eyes getting a little sleepy.

"No, he isn't," you said before you could think otherwise. At that, every head perked up.

God damn you vodka.

"Then who is?" Mina asked wickedly. You gulped.

"I prefer...blonds?" You pinched the bridge of your nose.

"Which blonds?" Tsuyu pressed.

"...explosive ones?"

"BAKUGOU?!!" Mina screamed and fell off her bed laughing. She took a long drink from her cup before the laughter continued, clearly the most intoxicated of the bunch.

The door flew open. "WOULD YOU ALL SHUT THE FUCK UP?!"

As if on cue, Bakugou stood in the doorway, wearing only sweatpants that hung low on his hips. His hair stuck up at odd angles from being pressed against a pillow. You inhaled as you admired his shirtless torso. In return, Bakugou's eyes scanned your body, taking in the leather catsuit.

"Sorry," Ochako peeped from behind you.

"Hey Bakuhoe! Did you know [y/n] thinks you're hot!?" Mina cackled from the floor, her short skirt almost rising too high to cover her underwear.

You still hadn't really spoken to Bakugou since the internship. You couldn't call the police station 'speaking' and seeing him like this made your pulse race. You felt your face grow hot as you shifted your gaze back to the shirtless boy.

My God, his abs should be illegal.

"Is she fucking drunk?" he hissed.

"What's it to you?" Jirou heckled from the corner.

"I'm gonna kick your ass in training tomorrow you goddamn lush," he spat at Jirou.

"Can't wait partner." She flipped him off with a bored expression on her face. Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed the doorknob.

"Just shut her up!" He took one last glance at you and slammed the door.

***

Through the door he could hear Mina's laugh. "I mean, you're not wrong [y/n]. You could wash clothes on his abs." Bakugou looked down, suddenly very aware of his naked torso.

The blond walked away from Mina's room replaying the last few minutes in his head.

Why the fuck was she wearing a catsuit? Is she trying to give me a heart attack? And Mina said she thinks I'm...No. She was lying. She's drunk.

He ran a hand through his hair. He wouldn't be getting a good night's sleep tonight.