Warning: Kira's language,

Enjoy!

When Kira woke up the next day, it took her a while before remembering what had happened the night before. As soon as the memories came back, she tried to jump out of her bed, only for her feet to get tangled in the blankets. She fell off the bed, harshly hitting the floor.

"Ow…"

"Meow?"

Deku peered at her from the desk, tilting his head. Laughing a little, the ginger rose back to her feet, rubbing her rear.

"I'm fine, I'm fine… I'm great, even!" She was smiling so much it almost hurt, but it was a good kind of pain. "Damn, I actually feel really good! Oh, and the Festival's today too, uh? I can't wait to get started!"

Glancing at her clock, she realized only two hours were left before the beginning of their event. So, quickly changing, she then grabbed her bag and the guitar before heading downstairs. She could guess everyone was pretty much awake by now, considering how excited they had been the day before.

Is Shoto awake yet? Probably, he's already up rather early… Wait, now that I think about it, I actually slept in! Wow, the first time I woke so late in a while, too. I even missed my morning jog!

The elevator opened, she stepped out and instantly found the mess hall plunged in utter chaos. Everyone was running around, trying to find whatever they needed, getting ready and yelling over each other.

Yup, she sweatdropped, going to sit on the couch. Pretty excited indeed.

"Oh, morning, Suki-chan!" greeted Ashido.

"Good morning, Kira-chan!" exclaimed Yaoyorozu.

"Hi girls!"

"'Morning, Red One!"

"'Morning, Red Two!" She bumped his fist with hers. "Ready for the big day?"

"You can bet on it!" he grinned. "Let's do this, everyone!"

At that, the rest of the students cheered. She simply laughed. Everything seemed so… simple, all of sudden.

She was simply happy, and she had forgotten how good it felt.

"Wow, you sure are cheerful this morning," remarked Kaminari, a box of props in hands. "Anything happened?"

"I feel great!" she exclaimed, grinning widely. "I'm pumped! And I can't wait to see Eri-chan too! And…"

She then trailed off. Shoto obviously hadn't told anyone yet, else they'd all be teasing her mercilessly. Should she tell them? Or maybe he wanted to keep their relationship a secret? God knew their classmates could be a pain to handle, sometimes…

Looking around, she startled when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"Good morning, Kira," greeted Shoto, half-smiling.

She could only smile back. "'Morning."

The ginger glanced around. Everyone was still kind of running around, not paying them any more attention.

"Say, what do we do about them?" she asked, in a lower tone. "Do you want to tell them, or…"

"WHERE'S MY SHIRT!?"

"Can someone help me with my hair?"

"We're missing a mike!"

"Fuck, I lost my other shoe!"

"ARGH!"

They both watched for a few more seconds the utter anarchy reigning in the dorms.

"Maybe… we should wait. At least until we're done with the show," he suggested.

"Yeah, I don't think they can handle the news in this state of mind," sweatdropped the fiery teen.

"Kira-chan!" suddenly exclaimed Jiro, already at the door. "The Band Team is going ahead to set up everything! You coming?"

"Yeah, give me a second!"

She grabbed her things, quickly making sure she had everything, before turning to Shoto and lightly kissing his cheek, while no one was paying attention.

"I'll see you later?"

"Later," he nodded.

Waving, the ginger then quickly headed outside, where the other four were already waiting for her. As they started heading for the gym, though, Kira found herself walking next to Katsuki. He seemed rather calm, for once, though she could guess he was merely keeping his energy for the show.

"So… you and Half-n-Half, uh?"

She stiffened, before sighing. "Don't say anything, please? Everyone's gonna freak out otherwise."

"Ain't that the truth," he snorted. "Though you're so fucking unsubtle, it's not even funny."

"We're planning on telling everyone after the Festival," she huffed. "And God, I can't believe I'm having this kind of conversation with you, of all people."

He simply shrugged. They fell silent for a while until a somewhat, uncharacteristically heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"What about your brother?"

At that, the ginger narrowed her eyes. "What about him?"

"He's a psycho who pretty much believes he's protecting you, of all things, or some shit like that. How'd you think he'd react knowing you've found yourself a boyfriend?"

"Badly," she snorted, a little bitterly. "You know what? When I first and last brought up the subject of having a boyfriend, he told me he'd kill the poor sap. At that time, I laughed. But now? Now, I don't really think he was joking anymore."

"Talked about it to Half-n-Half?"

"Not really. We only just… started everything. Like, litterally yesterday."

"Well, one way or another, it's not like he'll fucking care," grunted the blond, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He's fucking smitten with you, he'd go to hell and back if it meant he could stay with you."

"I seriously doubt it'd go that far. Anyhow, him and pretty much everyone else in the class is on his hit-list already. It won't change much." She hated to say it, she really did, but it was the truth despite all. "Or at least, I hope so."

Katsuki didn't answer. They fell silent for the rest of the way to the gym but, as they got there, Kira couldn't help but let out a disbelieving laugh.

"What?" he grunted.

"Nothing. Just… You do realize we've just had a civilized conversation about my relationship?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously at that. "You tell anyone and I'll fucking kill you."

She simply laughed, going inside. "Sure you will, Spikey."

"I know where you sleep, Carrot!" he warned. "Don't tempt me!"

"I'll think about it!"

She laughed yet again as a few explosions followed, quickly running to find the other three, hoping they'd be enough to stop Katsuki from actually blasting her into oblivion.

.

.

They passed the next hour and a half setting everything up. They made last-minute adjustments, checked the safety measures a few times and re-read the whole plan at least twice.

Only one thing was missing, now.

"What do you mean, Izuku's not back!?"

"He left this morning, but he still out," frowned Kirishima. "We've tried calling him, but he's not answering his phone either…"

"Oh, God…" The ginger breathed in and out a few times. "What if something happened to him? What if he's hurt? What if…" What if Ren showed up?

"Kira, calmed down," frowned Kaminari, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. It's Midoriya we're talking about! He probably just got lost or sidetracked or something like that."

"I guess…"

"I can go wait at the entrance for him," then volunteered Aoyama, offering her some cheese while he was at it. "I'll bring his clothes too so that he can change quickly once he's back."

"That's… a good idea," agreed the ginger, accepting the treat. "Thanks, Aoyama-kun."

"No problem~!"

He then left the gym. Frowning, Kira grabbed her phone and dialed Izuku's number. However, just as the boys said, Izuku simply wasn't answering.

Izuku… You better be safe, got it!?

.

.

There were many people, much more than planned. The whole gym was full, and Kira was growing both nervous and excited.

"I'm- I'm here! Sorry for worrying you!"

"Izuku!"

Relieved, Kira gave him a quick hug. He stiffened, and her eyes narrowed when she realized he was actually injured.

"Izuku? What happened?"

But he shook his head, glancing to their classmates. "Not now, Kicchan. I'm fine, okay? I'll tell you everything later."

"… all right. Don't push yourself too hard, though."

"I won't."

Accepting his answer, she then quickly left to go take her place with the other four members of the band. Grabbing her guitar, she then looked down at her left hand, which was covered in the special glove made by Mei.

She then clenched it tightly. Tcha! Let's do this!

The curtains opened. Silence fell upon the room as spotlights suddenly showed the students standing on the stage.

"LET'S FUCKING GO!" yelled Katsuki.

That was the signal. Falling into the musical routine, Kira instantly started playing along with everyone else. She couldn't focus on whatever else was happening, the music blasting in her ears and her attention solely on the guitar in her hands. She could faintly hear the surprised exclamations, soon followed by cheers and whistles. She could feel the stage trembling under the noise and the moves of the Dance Team. Her blood was pumping fast in her veins, almost like when she was battling someone.

She loved it, every second of it.

It's time for the final, she suddenly realized. Let's wrap this up!

There were flashes of light and screams and the music was so damn loud but Kira just couldn't think straight, caught up in the flow. She was having a blast, and she could tell everyone was too.

"This is awesome!"

And for the first time in a very long time, Kira found herself truly forgetting about the rest of her problems.

.

.

The show was done. It had been a great success, the cheers at the making Kira's blood pump even faster. However, all of the students were soon brought down from their high as they found themselves forced to do the cleanup.

They ended up missing Class B's play, which was kind of a shame, though.

"Oh, look at Midoriya!" then pointed out Sero. "Is he getting scolded?"

The green-haired boy was standing farther away, facing All Might, Ectoplasm, and Hound Dog. The last one was growling and barking at him, thoroughly scolding him for something Kira had yet to know the nature of.

"Poor Izuku…" she sweatdropped.

"Yo! Nice job out there!"

"Oh, Mirio-sempai!" she greeted before her eyes fell on the person next to him. "Eri-chan! Izuku, come here!"

"Uh? Oh, Eri-chan!"

The boy quickly joined them, smiling lightly, and the ginger kneeled before the little girl.

"So? Did you like it, Eri-chan?"

"At first, I was scared because it was really loud," admitted the child, almost jumping in place. "But then everyone started dancing like 'hop, hop'! And then the light went 'FLASH' and Deku disappeared but everything got cold like 'WHOOSH' and then the light was spinning around and that lady's voice was like 'Waaa' and I- I said 'Waaa' too!"

She's smiling…

Kira felt the tears rising to her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, before bringing the little in a tight hug.

She's smiling… and it's beautiful.

"I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself," Kira replied, letting out a shaky laugh. "So, so glad…"

"And Kira-san was playing music too! It was really pretty!" added the girl, obviously excited. "Can I play music too?"

"Of course you can," smiled softly the ginger, pulling away. "Though how about we enjoy the rest of the Festival first?"

"Right!"

.

.

They passed the rest of the day visiting the rest of the events. Hado ended up winning the beauty contest, they ate a lot of food and sweets, and Kira even won a small stuffed, red bear for Eri. Everyone had a lot of fun, and Kira felt her chest swell with happiness each time she saw Eri smiling.

Knowing Chisaki's shadow was finally gone was like a weight lifted off her chest.

"Thanks a lot for today, it was fun!" exclaimed Izuku.

"… yeah."

Unfortunately, it was time for Eri to leave. The little girl obviously wanted to stay, but it was getting late and the Culture Festival was over now.

"Aw, don't be like that, sweetheart," chuckled the hotheaded teen, patting the child's head. "We'll see each other soon, okay? I promise."

"Really?"

"Really really."

That earned a small, very small smile from the kid, but she obviously wasn't all that convinced yet.

"Eri-chan, look at me," then asked Izuku, crouching to her level. He then extended something to her. "Surprise!"

"A candy apple!" gasped Mirio. "Were they selling those!? I looked everywhere!"

"Well, after I looked at the program, I thought they might not have any, so when I was out shopping I bought all the ingredients, which was easy enough, aside from actually making them! The only thing the convenience store didn't have was the food coloring, so I borrowed some from Sato-kun," explained the green-haired boy.

The small girl took a careful bite from the apple, and her eyes instantly started sparkling in delight.

"It's so sweet…"

"I'll make more for you, then," promised Izuku, smiling. "Look forward to that!"

"Hm!"

Now happy again, the girl waved cheerfully at the two students, before leaving with Aizawa-sensei and Mirio, a candy apple in one hand and a red teddy bear in the other. As they took place in the car that would take her back to the hospital, the senior couldn't help but smile as he watched the little girl staring happily at the toy while she ate her candy apple.

"So, what are you going to call it?" he then asked.

"Call it?"

"Don't you want to give it a name?" he proposed.

The child thought it over for a while. Then, her face broke into a bright smile.

"Her name's Spitfire!"

.

.

"Whew, that was en eventful day alright!" sighed happily Kira, stretching lazily on the couch.

"I had so much fun!" agreed Ashido.

"And we absolutely killed it with our event," added Kirishima, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hell yeah!"

Laughing, the three of them bumped fists together.

"Kira," then called Shoto, appearing from nowhere. "Are you coming?"

"Yup! Just give me a sec!"

"Going?" echoed Kaminari, looking from to the other. "Going where?"

"Training, duh," the ginger replied, rolling her eyes. She finished gathering her things and swung her bag over her shoulder. "Now that the Culture Festival's over, we're going back to normal classes, aren't we? Gotta keep in shape!"

"You guys are absolute monsters," sweatdropped Mineta.

"No! This is a fine example of how students in the Hero Course of U.A. should act!" exclaimed loudly Iida. "Truly a wonderful dedication! However, do not forget the curfew!"

"Sure thing, Class Rep!"

She bid goodnight to her friends, knowing most would already be in their rooms by the time they got back. After what, she quickly followed Shoto outside. As they started heading for the gym, Kira's hand found the boy's.

"Had a nice day?" he asked, lacing his fingers with hers.

"I had fun," she nodded. "Eri-chan was smiling too… Honestly, I think it was the best day of my life since…"

She didn't finish, but Shoto knew what she was talking about. So, simply tightening his hold to show comfort, he left her in her thoughts. She knew he was there if she needed to talk, and so she would if she needed to.

After a few minutes, she exhaled deeply.

"I'm worried about Ren."

"Why?"

"I… All of you are potential targets, what with being my friends and all. But now… now that we're together, I'm afraid it might single you out," she admitted. "He said some things before… and I don't want you to be in danger because of me—"

"Kira, I can defend myself," he assured, confident. "And I understand your worries, but there's nothing we can do about it. There's nothing you can do about it. You can't stop yourself from living just because he's around."

"I know. I know that. I just… can't stop worrying."

"Then I'll make you stop," he retorted.

At that, she snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"That was so cheating."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You distracted me!" Kira accused. "Not fair!"

An amused smirk twisted his lips. "Did I?"

"Y- you kissed me! Of course it distracted me!"

"Well, as the saying goes: all's fair in love and war," he replied, somewhat smugly.

She huffed. She wasn't bitter about losing their spar, she wasn't that petty, but she was embarrassed. Hell, they had only started seeing each other the day before, after all. While she was a rather touchy-feely person, kissing was on another level.

But, well, he kept his word after all: he did make her stop worrying, or at least for the time of their spar.

As they reached the dorms, Shoto stopped her. His hand sliding up her cheek, he leaned in and lightly kissed her, before pulling back.

"Forgive me?" He was way too smug about it.

"Ugh, as if I could be mad at you."

She kissed him again. Her heart was beating fast, she could feel a few sparks flying from her fingers—

"What the hell!?"

Of fucking course.

The couple turned to Mineta, who was standing in the doorway and gaping at them, obviously in shock. Having heard him, though, Ashido, Kaminari, Uraraka, Shoji, and Kirishima quickly showed up.

"What is it, Mineta?"

"They- they- they- they were KISSING!"

…

…

…

"WHAT!?"

Oh, God…

.

.

They passed the following hour trying to ward off their friends, who kept bugging them for details and whatnot. Kira tried more than once to escape, so Kirishima ended up sitting on her back to stop her from running. It's only when he became distracted by Ashido's happy squeals that the ginger managed to shove him off and make a run for it. Grabbing Shoto while she was at it, she dragged him away without a second thought.

The elevator doors closed just as Kaminari was reaching them. There was a distinct 'THUMP' as he collided into the doors before the elevator started going up. Letting out a breathless laugh, the fiery teen leaned against the wall, an hand over her heart.

"Damn, they're intense… Shoto?" She tilted her head as he suddenly loomed over her. "What—"

He leaned in, kissing her. It was deeper than the ones before, with her back pressed against the wall of the elevator, and she instantly felt all worries being blown from her mind. One of his hands was behind her head, stopping it from hitting the wall, which made her smile in the kiss.

So careful…

'DING'

The doors slid open, revealing none other than Katsuki. He blinked a few times as Kira instantly pulled away, blushing deeply.

"Fuck, do that in your damn room!" scowled the blond.

"S- sorry!"

She gave a quick peck on Shoto's cheek before dashing her room, not daring to look back. As soon as she closed her door behind her, she slid to the floor, hiding her face in her hands.

"Why him, of all people…" Seriously, she'd never hear the end of it now that Katsuki found them in such a position.

"Meow!"

"Oh, Deku…" The small cat climbed on her to lick her nose. "Aw, you're cute. But I'm fine, really! Just… easily embarrassed."

She let out a small laugh at that, petting his head, and Shiro suddenly dropped on her shoulder. Too used to his sudden apparitions by now, the teen simply scratched his ears, not startled in the slightest.

"Who knows, maybe things are looking up," she remarked softly. "Maybe it'll get better, after all…"

Something suddenly dropped on her balcony. Kira tensed, she didn't see what it was, nor where it came from. Wary, she slowly got back to her feet and headed to the glass door. Looking through it, she spotted something on the balcony, but couldn't see clearly what it was.

Well, can't leave that here either.

Careful, the ginger stepped out. She frowned when realizing it was a paper, all scrunched up. She looked around, unsure, before picking it up. She relaxed when noticing it was covered with some ice, probably to make it heavier so that it wouldn't be blown off by the wind. She went back inside before quickly unfolding it and reading the two words written on it.

Goodnight.

"Shoto…?"

It was his writing, she could tell, but…

"God, he's such a dork," she snorted.

Grabbing her phone, she quickly texted him her answer.

"Shoto, you scared the crap out of me! But it's sweet, so thanks. Also, sorry for leaving so quickly."

- Kira

After a few seconds, she received his answer.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I couldn't find my phone until you texted me. And it's fine, I know how you get when you're embarrassed."

- Shoto

Her cheeks turned a light pink at that and she quickly typed her answer.

"Whatever. Meditation tomorrow?"

- Kira

"Of course. Goodnight."

- Shoto

"Goodnight!"

- Kira

Kira felt warm, giddy. As she laid down in her bed to turn in for the night, she found herself hoping things would stay like that for much, much longer.

Well... That's it, peolpe. As said in the previous chapter, this one was the last. Until the new season has come out (meaning until the manga has advanced further), I won't post any new chapter, so you can now consider this story officially on hiatus. I'm very sorry to put it on pause like that, I feel really bad, and even more so considering on many people seem to genuinely enjoy it, but there's simply no helping it. In the meantime, I hope you'll find it in yourselves to go and check out my other stories.

Love yall!

-Akuma