..Hi. Sorry.
I am late, I know.

So. Yeah. Hiatus happened.

I don't know how many of you are interested in hearing my excuses, but I feel like I own you at least some explanation. It will be at the end of the chapter, where I usually put answers to reviews but not today, because while I am very grateful for any of your reviews, I feel like I would never update again if I tried to answer to all that gatherer over this year. You don't have to read my explanation of course, lol.

But before that, I need to address another thing. Because. We. reached. 1000. followers. Omg.
Thank you so much! All of you who review, follow, favorite... thank you. It makes me so happy. So. Just thank you... I am not good with emotional stuff, I am very sorry for this dry thanks.

Also. I am now twenty. Yay.

PS: That one scene with Rikido was inspired by review that was posted around a year ago. I can't find it now, but if you are the one who wrote it, please write either another review or PM me so I can properly thank you for that idea~

Also, warning for this chapter: Questionable morals as always, underage drinking.

Beta: OTrizy

Quote: "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

I stared.
He stared back.

I stared harder.
He started to sweat.

I smiled.
His eyes widened in fright.

"I am very sorry Madame, please don't kill me! I am only a low postman!" he cried out, throwing our mail at me and then promptly disappearing with a girlish scream.

"...Heh." I smirked in satisfaction and nodded. I really missed this town and my superb reputation here. It was truly a hard sacrifice for me when I had to stop traumatizing people once I moved. Grandma was very adamant about her rules; I could only traumatize as self-defense.

Whistling innocently, I snapped our front door shut and went back towards the living room. On the way, I started to sort out through our daily mail. Leaflet, Leaflet and oh! What do you see, another leaflet! Finally being all the way down to the last two mails, I read the returning address carefully. The smirk slipped from my face.

"Did something interesting arrive, Kou-chan?" called mom from the kitchen, her head appearing in the doorway a few seconds later. She frowned in concern when she saw my serious expression.

"Kou?"

"They came... the results."

"Oh! Oh... I see." She looked visibly excited, but made an effort to hold it back, "Want to open it alone or with me?" she forced our calmly, her focused stare never leaving the packets in my hands.

"Yeah... I think... first alone..." I answered, sending her a tense, but apologetic smile. I felt as if I needed to be alone for this. It's like one of those moments when one little piece of paper decides your whole future. And unlike my brother, I didn't try to enroll in any other high school than U.A.; it was all or nothing decision for me. Well, it's not like I would mind too much if I dropped out of the school system now, but it would feel like I was giving up without even trying.

Going back to the second letter, I saw that there was also one for my brother. I bit my bottom lip as I thought back to the previous week.

After he arrived home from his exam (his ended hours later than mine, because there was the physical test as well), he headed right to our room without speaking anything to either of us and spent the remainder of the day there. I chose to crash in the living room and play games until he decided he felt up to the company. Eventually, he did come down for dinner, but it was a quiet affair... as were following meals for the rest of the week.

We managed to pry out of him some details about his exam, but in the end, one doesn't need to have a big imagination to deduce that it didn't go well.

"I am taking Izuku's letter too," I stated unnecessarily, dropping the useless part of today's mail on the dining table when I passed it on my way to our room.

Our room, huh. It really started to get kind of... cramped in there. I didn't realize it at first, because most of my things were still over at grandparents' house but we were teenagers and while Izuku was quite an orderly person, I... not so much. I was a messy person and knew it full well. My idea of cleaning stuff composed of pushing it into a closet and hoping that the closet stays closed.

And while our room was of average size, it seemed smaller with all my stuff lying around - in systematic disarray of course. I could go on an hour-long lecture every day about how everything had its order and I knew where everything was, so don't you dare to clean it, dear brother of mine or so help me-

I suppose it didn't help that over the years, Katsuki's stuff started to compile there as well...

It was a very tight squeeze, indeed. I was currently in the process of persuading mom to stop being so stubborn and take grandpa's offer so that we can start living with them already. They had a big house, we could all have our own rooms there! And no, I didn't want to go back, because I liked that town better. I just needed my space back. I got used to having a lot of space, okay?

Anyway, the only things holding us in this town were Bakugos and memories. Well and this town was a little closer to U.A. Highschool, but that was... I looked down at two little packets lying innocently in my hands. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door to our shared room.

Even if it was my room as well, there is no way that I would enter the room occupied by a fifteen years old boy without knocking. Experiencing teenage years in both lifetimes had taught me little stuff about things like these. And even if my brother wasn't your typical teenager, it was still better to be safe than sorry (read: traumatized), in her humble opinion.

Taking a deep breath and forming a crooked smile to hide my nervousness, I stepped inside. Izuku raised his head from the book he was reading on his bed and lifted his eyebrows in concern when he saw my tense face.

"It came," I lifted both letters so he could see the school's insignia stamped onto them. Instantly his slightly bored expression transformed into alarmed one and he jumped from his bed, nearly colliding with the bottom of the upper one.

Biting back a snort, I threw his letter at him. He caught it before it could collide with his chest and examined it with anxious eyes. He sent me a hesitant look after a few seconds, biting his lower lip as if he didn't know how to politely ask for me to get out. I nodded, my half-smile still persistently pasted on my face.

"I will be..." I took a few seconds to go through all available rooms in our house, „in mom's room." I finished lamely. Turning around, I went towards my chosen destination, clenching and unclenching my fingers around the leftover letter. After entering the room, I flopped on mom's bed.

With a frown, I took the letter in both hands and stretched it above me. I glared at the piece of white paper, feeling ridiculous that something so small like this was supposed to determine my worth and future. A sigh escaped me. Well, here goes nothing. I took it between my hands and tore it in half... tore it too thoroughly in fact. I took a moment to examine in stunned silence those two parts in my hands. Looking inside proved that the paper, the admission decision paper, was ripped in half too.

"Haa..." I face-palmed. Great. Grumbling about my own stupidity, I took both pieces and straightened them, placing them next to each other on the pillow.

..

...

...

"No fucking way." I stared dumbly at the black text.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAH" A scream sounded from the next room and I jerked in surprise and fell down from the bed. I didn't even groan as I met the ground, too confused about the whole situation. Looking around as I patted the blue carpet I was laying on, I could only think, 'I should tell mom to change her curtains. They are ugly.'

"MOM? MOM! NEE-CHAN! I AM IN. I AM INNNNNN," my brother continued to scream in his room and then I heard a loud *bang* and footsteps and them mom's loud "OH MY GOD" and then there was even more screaming. It was a mess.

'Huh.' My mind was in utter chaos as well, to accompany the current messiness of our household. Trying to make a reason out of my thoughts was futile endeavor; therefore I tried to restart it by blinking a few times. And then blinking some more. And then between two blinks, my brother was here, a sobbing and screaming mess shaking me passionately in his excitement.

"..." I am gonna be sick.

"I got in! I got in! I passed. They accepted me-" he continued to babble about, but thankfully stopped his shaking soon; instead, he pressed his snot-covered face into my blouse.

'Ugh.' I grimaced in disgust, the wet feeling finally making some order out of my tangled thoughts.

"Me... too?" I stated back uncertainly, still unsure if I read it right. There was a second of silence and then I was hugged so fiercely that I fake-groaned in reaction to the affection. There was no fight behind the sound, however, and soon I was patting my brother's curly head as he continued to happily babble something into my stomach. Then mom appeared, pressing both of us into her chest, squashing us against each other and crying about how proud she was.

'Maybe... maybe it's real after all...' I was taken back to the last time we hugged and cried like this when Izuku's future was still uncertain, but even so we were all determined to do everything in our power and go against all odds to make that future happen.

This, this was only a start, but... It was a very good start.

'Well… I certainly don't mind this kind of reality,' I let few silent tears slid down my cheeks, a small smile appearing as I let myself drown in the affection. Just this once.

xXxXxXx

"OMG. YOU GOT IN TOO? THAT'S AWESOME!" I winced, pulling the phone as far away as possible, while still maintaining a distance that will allow me to be heard. God, this girl and her lungs.

"Shheeesh, not so loud. You're gonna burst my eardrums."

"Pshhh. Your ears will be fine. But seriously! This is so awesome~ we're going to be in the same school again~." Thankfully, Mina listened and cut down her volume.

"In different departments and with several hundred other students," I deadpanned, rubbing my ears and wondering if there will be any permanent damage.

"Aawwww Kou! Don't be like that! We can visit each other during the breaks! And I am in class A just like your brother. I bet you will be named a honorary member of our class by the end of the semester with how often you will visit. Kekeke~."

I grunted unhappily. That was true.

"Don't be such a Tsun-Tsun Kou~. I know you love spending time with me," I snorted, "Shush you grumpy child. Now, did you hear? Ei-chan passed too! And he is in 1-A as well!" she sounded so excited of that fact, I rolled my eyes.

"No, I didn't. We didn't exchange our contact information, thankfully," I answered back dryly.

"Eeeh? But I gave him your number~."

"You did WHAT?!"

"Ehehehe... sorry. Something came up, gotta hang up now~."

"WAIT YOU LITTLE-"

Beep. Beep.

...

"She is so gonna get it once I get my hands on her," I grumbled. Mina knew how I felt about that boy's crush, I complained about it often enough. While Kirishima was quite a nice child, he was just that; a child. I was way too old mentally (even if I didn't behave like it half the time) to not be uncomfortable when I spotted signs of him fancying me. And I didn't do things like romance period. Ughhh.

Flopping onto our couch, I started to entertain the thought of changing my phone number... Okay nope, waaay too much hassle. Just thinking about having to come up with sound reason and then having to inform everyone that I have a new number made me instantly reject the idea. And knowing Mina, she would just give him my number again. Damn that annoying girl, why do I continue being friends with her anyway. She brings so much headache, she does.

My phone beeped, signaling that I received a message.

From: Annoying_girl
Sorry about giving him your number. I am gonna buy you a cake as an apology? So pleeeaaase don't kill me?

... She knows me too well.

To: Annoying_girl
I'll think about it, depends how good that cake will be. I may only half-kill you.

From: Annoying_girl
Awwww. So cruel Kou~ I am just trying to be a supportive friend! You two are so cute together! I ship it!

To: Annoying_girl
... Continue talking shit like this and not even cake will save you.

From: Annoying_girl
Roger. *salute*

I rolled my eyes. On some days, it felt like that was all I ever did when it came to this girl. Huffing, I was about to close my phone and throw it on the table when another notice sound echoed through the silent room.

Mom was off to grocery shopping for today's celebratory feast and Izuku was visiting Katsuki; both boys were probably geeking about their favorite superheroes and about their would-be experiences at U.A. school. I very passionately refused to participate in such conversations. All I wanted from my new school was the calm and anti-social experience.

Unlocking my phone, I was about to prepare myself for another round of exasperating conversations, but my preparations were quickly stopped when I saw the name of the sender. Now I was curious.

From: Chizome
Congrats.

"…"

I huffed. Would it have killed him to be more enthusiastic about it? Even I would have written something like: "Congrats. Let's celebrate it sometime." This was just sad. He was becoming even more socially awkward and antisocial than me, which wow, was a feat. Clearly, becoming an infamous hero killer didn't help his social skills any. I snorted.

"…" I have a feeling there was something wrong with my sense of humor. Eh. My head was always screwed on the wrong way.

However... I frowned. Thinking about his growing 'reputation' made me uneasy as well. He was getting more daring and reckless now, gaining recognition in the process. And that... it was never good to be too 'well-known', dangerous big-shots were starting to get curious. Chizome was good, but I doubt he was good enough to go toe to toe with Endeavor. If he surprised him and somehow got a little of his blood before the hero could 'flame-up', sure, however... I sighed.

These days I didn't saw Chizome a lot. I made him promise that he will call me at least once a week and text me occasionally, but he was getting more secretive and curt in his calls and messages.

I was a little worried, to be honest; he was that constant presence in my life, someone around who I didn't have to be careful or worry about sounding too bitter or afraid to voice my 'darker' thoughts. Sure, Mina was my best friend and she probably knew more about me than I was even aware of, but Chizome was... different kind of best friend. I didn't have to pretend and he didn't try to pry.

I looked down at my phone with thoughtful expression. It would be nice to remember good old days.

To: Chizome
Thanks. Mind if I come round sometime this week? We can celebrate it along with your 'celebrity' status.

There, I made an effort, now it was up to him.

From: Chizome
...Depends on what you have in mind.

I smirked. Boooy, I have an idea you won't refuse.

To: Chizome
Some good ol' ring fighting and then having a few drinks to commemorate the occasion?

From: Chizome
That sounds acceptable.

Heh. I called it.

xXxXxXx

"This was a bad idea," I whined childishly as I woke up to the feeling of pounding headache and bruised body. And my back and neck were killing me. Where was I – Oh yea, I slept in the bathtub, that explains it. I groaned.

"It was your idea. Of course, it was bad," was an answering grumble. I slowly turned around and looked through the door at the slumped figure leaning against the kitchen counter. I chuckled weakly.

"You agreed," I fought back without any fight at all. God, but I hated hangovers. Small mercy that I was already in the bathroom. If I had a sudden urge to empty my stomach the toilet was few paces away and also... I zeroed my eyes on the cabinet above the sink. A medicine cabinet.

Heh. My drunk self sure knows where to crash for the night, though she could have chosen to sleep on that comfortable looking carpet and not in a cramped bath. Well, better to not look in a gift horse mouth, it could have been worse.

Another groan sounded, a quick glance confirmed that Chizome was still alive and now attempting to stand up. Well, that sounds like a good idea; those painkillers won't come to them on their own. Oh wait, they could. I smirked weakly, her quirk was useful like that.

...

"I hate you," was the first thing from the mouth of my dear friend once we were in his living room, painkillers and water evenly distributed between us.

"Come on, you little baby. It's not that bad now..." I answered faintly from my position of lying down on a carpet. The vertigo from before was finally absent. I decided to stay on this magical carpet all day today. I did inform mom that I will be absent for two days anyway.

"I remember drinking twice as much as you," he groused out, throwing one pillow from the pillow pile he was lying under on the couch in my direction... and missing by several centimeters. Seriously, this was supposed to be THE hero killer?

"That's your own fault," I pointed out with barely concealed amusement. But this pillow sure looked comfortable... I snatched it from the ground and put it under my head. Ahhh, better.

"You encouraged it!"

"Excuses. Excuses. You are grown up man; you should know your limits." I hummed out as I reached towards the packet of crackers.. I hated those things so much, but they were good for queasy stomach.

Eat and then sleep. That was today's plan. Sounds perfect.

"I still hate you."

"Heh. Heh. Then I am doing my job right."

...

"Well, this was completely worthless and unproductive two days," Chizome remarked that night from where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed. However, as opposed to his words, he looked more relaxed and comfortable than he did two days ago.

"Stop trying to lie to yourself. We both know you enjoyed those free days..." Waving in his general direction uninterestedly, I continued to shuffle through piles of papers on his desk. Then I stopped and added; "Well, the first day at least. The day after is always kind of shitty."

He grumbled but didn't disagree. There was comfortable silence for a bit, only disturbed be an occasional sipping sound. This new brand of strawberry juice sure tasted nice.

"...Why are you going through my 'second job' notes, exactly?"

"I am curious. You never talk about 'hero-killer' business with me anymore."

"It's dangerous to talk where someone can overhear and phones and computers can be cracked into. I don't want to leave any evidence leaving around."

"Yeah, sure. That's why you have all of these" she pointed to his messy table, "just lying around in your apartment?"

"That's different," he frowned, "I don't want to leave any loose ends that would cause that my activities would be traced back to you."

I paused minutely and carefully didn't look back at Chizome. He would see my smile that way and then my tough reputation will be in shambles. But seriously, that was kind of sweet. I always knew Chizome was big softy inside, but it was nice to have proof once in the while.

"Well thank you then. But there is something I actually wanted to discuss with you, now that we are alone." I swirled around in his chair and looked at him intently. There was a second reason I wanted to meet up after all, the fun was all well and good, but it was time to get serious.

"You should tone your activities down a bit."

"What?" he scowled.

"Tone, it, down. You are getting too much attention way too quickly. I don't want you to get yourself imprisoned or killed, because you overestimated your capabilities." I continued in the same flat tone, not getting intimidated in the least by his ferocious scowl.

"You... that's none of your business. I didn't tell you about my second job for you to dictate what I should or shouldn't do."

"For god's sake... I am not dictating anything, you arse! I am just worried about you."

"Well, there is nothing to worry about. I have everything handled."

I sighed... sometimes... sometimes I wanted to kick him in the balls again. But let's keep that option open for when things get really bad.

"Haaa. Okay. I'll let it slide, for now, I don't want to argue today. But, this conversation is not over, just-" I saw him open his mouth to dissent my words with eyes ablaze, so I quickly finished my sentence, "just try to be careful, okay?"

He snapped his mouth shut and glowered at me with knitted brows. I waited until he processed my words, my eyes set into my own impressive glare.

"... Sure." He mumbled in the end, deciding that there was nothing he could find wrong with my words. It was true that I was only worried after all and he can't deny that my fears weren't unfound.

"Thanks," I smirked. For now, this will be enough.

After all, it will take some time until he realizes that I stole some of his data and notes on several strong and well-known heroes. And when he does... well I would have already burned those, so he would have to start from the... well, start.

Heh. Never underestimate a determined woman.

xXxXxXx

*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*

'Oh for fuck's sake, I hate that damn alarm clock.' I thought as I did my best impression of bird Emu, but instead of sticking my head into the ground, I stuck it under my pillow.

"Yes! Time to wake up! Time to wake uppppp, nee-chaaan!" My brother was as always full of energy. I just muffled sad whale sounds into my mattress. It felt too early, it has to be too early. No way, that it was already time to wake up.

"Get up, nee-chan. Get up! We only have three hours until our first class starts. Gosh, I am so excited!"

... three... hours...? Why... I never should have let Izuku set the timer for our alarm clock.

"..."

Whatever, I will just pretend to be dead and hopefully I will be believable enough corpse that they'll let me rot in peace.

There was a poking sensation on my side. I took a deep breath and-

"Common! We need to double-check if we have everything for today and also we both have to spend a long time in the bathroom to look presentable and also mom is already in the kitchen and I don't want her food to go to waste. And oh my god, what should I wear? Oh wait we have to wear our uniforms, but still what about boots-"

- and then I just gave up. There was no stopping my brother when he was in one of these moods.

...

"Do you have everything? What about tissues, oh my god, do you both have your own tissues?"

"Yes, mom," we dutifully answered as one.

"What about your hanky? You can't leave without-" I stood up from my crouched position and walked over to my mother, having to bend down a little to kiss her on the cheek. We were both taller than her now.

"Don't worry mom. We have all we need. But we also need to hurry up or Katsuki will burn down the whole flat because of how bored he got while waiting for us." I smirked at her and patted her shoulder, deciding to wait outside with Katsuki and give Izuku and mom their own moment as well.

I opened the door and-

"Finally! What the fuck took you so long you freaky witch!" I twisted my mouth in amusement at his choice of words. He stopped calling me hag week ago, saying that now that we were high schoolers and as the clearly more mature one, he would be gracious enough to stop with that childish nickname... it took exactly three hours before the dam broke and we were back to antagonizing each other. But as a show of his newly gained wisdom, he decided to change my 'nickname'. Whatever, I found it pretty hilarious.

"Now... don't be a vulgar shorty. It's too damn early for it." I chided with my voice all sage-like.

"...Are you hearing yourself?" I snorted and then counted down in my head. Three, Two, One...

"AND I AM NOT SHORT. I AM TALLER THAN YOU BY FIVE CENTIMETERS NOW. STOP CALLING ME THAT."

"But you always have the best reactions..." I smirked in satisfaction.

"YOU-"

"Now, please, don't fight children," piped Izuku up as he closed the door behind him.

"Sure." I chirped and took my brother's hand, swinging it around as we made our way towards public transportation (I agreed to use it for our first day instead of my motorbike, because Izuku was pouting), both of us ignoring Katsuki's angry mutters behind us.

So far, except for that way too early wake up, today was looking good.

...

"Wow, but damn. This door is huuuuge," I whistled as I sized up the door with big "1-A" on them. I decided to accompany those two to their class and chat a bit with them and Mina before I have to leave for my 1-H classroom. Thanks to our early departure, we still had half an hour to spare, after all.

I turned around to face my boys who were looking at each other, having a battle of wills for who will have the dubious pleasure of opening the door. Unsurprisingly, in next second it was Katsuki who aggressively stomped towards the door, Izuku releasing a relieved sigh as he shuffled after his best friend. I followed after them with an amused expression.

The room was surprisingly half-empty, did everyone decided to sleep in today? Ha... I am jealous.

"Ah! You are- Nice to meet you, I am Iida Tenya from Soumei!" suddenly some black-haired guy with glasses approached my brother with a determined expression on his face and hand outstretched. My brother nervously introduced himself back and I was about to inconspicuously listen to their conversation when-

"KOUUUUUU!" - a scream nearly destroyed my eardrums. Again. I sighed and took a wider stance with my legs, fully preparing myself for the frontal assault. Which was a very good precaution, because second later, a body slammed into mine and limbs wrapped around my torso like a very lively octopus.

"Mina... nice… to see you... again." My words were barely audible thanks to the tight grip on my stomach.

'I am getting way too old for this," I lamented inside my head.

"My bestieeeee! It's soooo long since I saw you! And you weren't calling me at all! You meanie! Did you already forget all about our epic bromance?! Are you not aware that you will not escape my clutches so easily-"

"We saw each other a week ago and we are calling every day," I stated dryly. However, my worlds were totally ignored as the girl continued to babble about total nonsense... don't tell me her mother allowed her to have the coffee on her first day of school. She did, didn't she? I groaned lowly.

"- and thus our bromance shall, wait, is it called bromance if it's between girls? Should it be something like sister... sis ...sismance? Sistemance? Ugh. That sounds horrible. Izu-kun! You are the one with brains, help me out!" Mina placed her hands on Izuku's shoulders, her face full of intense seriousness.

My brother looked terrified at being called out like that. He stammered something indecipherable and looked wildly around for help.

He got nothing in return for his troubles. Katsuki was already sitting at the nearest table he found and pretending to sleep, the glasses guy looked fairly uncomfortable with the situation, probably because he couldn't comprehend it at all. And me?

Well as a very overprotective sister of the said male in distress, I decided to... slowly and inconspicuously make my escape. No way was I dealing with Mina when the girl was doped on coffee.

"Kou!" This time I groaned loudly. Can't a girl sneak out of her brother's classroom peacefully without meeting any other familiar faces? Seriously. I should have just continued my corpse performance; maybe if I was really serious about it, then my brother would have given up on me after some time...

"Kirishima..." I pulled on my 'trying to be polite even if I really, really don't want to be' face as I turned around to face the boy. I was momentarily blindsided by the mane of wild red hair. I blinked. And then blinked some more.

"I told you to call me, Ei! Anyway, do you like my new hair? I tried to go for something that will make me unforgettable, haha..."

"Well. It's certainly eye-catching," I said flatly, my eyebrows coming down from where they hid in my fringe in my monetary surprise.

"Eh. You think so? I am glad you like it!" he gushed and his blush was once again present.

'Ah... I didn't say I like it though,' I thought in despair. Every time I saw this guy's blushing face, I felt like a cradle robber. But I didn't have any intention to pursue any romantic relationship with him, so I should be safe from that kind of guilt... right? Hahaha...

"So how was your holiday? I heard from Mina that you got accepted into this school too and I was so excited! It's just a pity that we won't be in the same class because-" I let his ramble wash over me as I tried to think of a good excuse to get the hell out of this classroom. And fast.

"-but we can still have lunch together as we did in junior high and-"

Haahh... why did she chose this school again?

"Kou! Kou! Izu-kun said that the best term is womance! That's so cool, ain't it?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that this term is academically correct." The glasses guy.

"Ah, I think that Mina-chan doesn't care at this point Iida-san..." Izuku.

"..." Katsuki was still pretending to sleep.

... haha. I don't know anymore. Is it too late to take my application back? Certainly, there has to be some poor soul who didn't get in and would happily trade his/her place with me. I was about to have another decision crisis when-

"Um. Do you want some sweets?"...did I hear that right?

I turned around aggressively and looked towards the savior who approached our group in my darkest moments.

"Sweets?" I said with poorly hidden enthusiasm. From Katsuki's snort, it was indeed very poorly hidden.

"Uh, yes. I baked some yesterday for when I meet my new classmates. Hopefully, it's good." The tall boy looked surprised by my sudden attention but took it in stride as he stretched a box filled with delicious looking sweets towards me.

"Oh..." I released sadly, "I am actually not from 1-A but from 1-H... so not your classmate..." I trailed off. The guy's square-shaped eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah. I guess I should probably go out and meet my new classmates and all. Yeah I should go..." gosh this was kind of mortifying, but I was really, really looking forward to eating something sweet.

"Um, but I don't mind if you eat some? I mean, even if you are from a different class, you are still a first-year student like us, so we will see each other a lot. And I don't mind making friends with people from different departments. The more, the merrier, right?" he chuckled, his hand still stretched awkwardly. I smiled widely and suddenly he looked kind of frightened. I paid it no mind, already used to such reactions.

"Then if you don't mind..." I took one and carefully nipped on it.

Silence. I stood tensely in silence, my smile slipping from my face. The guy was now sweating bullets as he waited anxiously for my verdict.

I took a deep breath and then slowly stretched my hands towards the muscular boy. He tensed but didn't move as I carefully placed both of my limbs upon the hand holding the box of those heavenly sugary joys.

My gaze never left the box and its content even as I addressed the one who made them.

"Please. Marry me."

...

I was gently but resolutely rejected on the account that while he was greatly honored, we were still too young to think of marriage. I wasn't heartbroken for long however, as he assured me that I can still enjoy his baking whenever he made something, as his friend.

I've very much conceded, making him to promptly drop suffix and just call me Kou. He fumbled for a bit at that, clearly unused to such direct approach, but I ignored his flustered babbling as I continued to slowly but surely diminish the content of his box.

Sadly, I had to soon say goodbye to those heavenly goods and to my new friend Rikido because the start of the first lesson was nearing. I suppose that it would be seen as polite if I entered the classroom before our new homeroom teacher... not that I've ever cared about being polite, but hey, I was getting better.

A few minutes later, I was happily munching on another sugary joy as I happily skipped out of 1-A class, waving at my friends and brother and promising that we will see each other during lunch break.

Rikido waved back with a confused smile, Kirishima looked crestfallen, Mina was cackling madly beside him, Katsuki was truly fast asleep and snoring and Izuku was alternating between patting the redhead's back in consolation and throwing concerned gazes at the pinkette.

All in all, it felt like a successful retreat, now to survive meeting her new classmates.

So thats the end.

I know that it feels kinda short, especially after my hiatus, but I thought, better at least something than nothing at all, right? And its not pure AN, so thats also something admirable, right? Haha...

In next chapter I plan to go over the first week, the 'infiltration' of the 'handy man', heh, and then broach the start of U.S.J. arc. The actual USJ arc will be in chapter 17 sadly and don't worry, I plan for Kou to have some kind of role in it, not like I did with slime villain in last chapter.

I am not promising anything when it comes to next update, it can happen this month, it can happen next... I really don't know how much free time I will have this year, but I am not abandoning this baby. This fic is important to me and I do enjoy writing it, it just takes a long time for me to actually sit down and write.

Now for my promised explanation concerning 'hiatus':
Yeah, so there were stuff happening all the time. First, at the start of the last year, the lessor of the house we were living in, just knocked on our door and told us: "Haha, I am sorry but I need this house for my daughter so if you would please get out.". Lol. Charming man that. Anyway so, as my parents aren't at home most of time, it was up to me to search for new housing, kinda hard because we have cat and usually animals aren't allowed. I was not in the mood for writing during that time I guess.
Then after few weeks I finally found something thus we moved... and right then exams started. We had those exams for several weeks, and I finally started to realize I may have chosen a wrong major and also overestimated myself. Biochemistry is clearly too hard for me, but hey, I hate disappointing people and I didn't want to make mom sad if i quit, so I stayed... I hate myself now because oh my god what I am even doing in this university.
But let's not digress, I somehow survived exams, but then I had to start part-time working because I promised my parents I start working after I finish my first year. Which took a big part of my free time, as you can imagine.
That's kinda all. I mean i had my moments of depression and doubting myself where I just wanted to take this work down (if someone noticed I already took one of my works down) and quit writing because I felt really incompetent.
And of course even when I had some free time I spent it either reading, sleeping or writing down ideas for fics that I am probably never gonna write, heh.

I don't know if my 'excuses' are good enough for my year long hiatus, but in the end, writing is supposed to be something we do as an 'hobby' and something we also shouldn't take too seriously if we don't feel like doing it, so I guess...