My mother had taken the whole weekend off, probably with the intent to sit around the house and make sure I never left. Fine by me, I had the whole friend group on the other side of my window. We had to worry about our volume at times, but other than that it was just like hanging out with them in the garage. 

When Monday rolled around, I was more than happy to get my ass out of the house, even if it was just for school. My mother had to work early, so I had free roam of the house without fears of an awkward bump in. 

Since I had never been given instructions about how I was getting to school that morning, I had just assumed I was walking. Until Bakugou's revving made me realize he was expecting me over there. I rolled my eyes at how obnoxious he could be, but slipped my shoes and backpack on and headed over. 

I walked across the yard, seeing Bakugou on his bike and Eijirou leaning against his truck. "Who am I riding with today, then?" I asked as I stepped onto the driveway. 

"Whoever you want," Bakugou said like it was obvious. 

"Wow, I get to make my own choice," I said in a condescending voice, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. 

My annoyed attitude seemed to sound alarm bells in Eijirou's head. "You okay, Izuku?" His tone was careful like he was talking to a biting dog. Since he was the resident Bakugou wrangler, I guess it made sense that it was his default. 

"Izuku?" Bakugou asked, looking over at the redhead. His tone and face were both level, as if he wasn't surprised at the name evolution that, apparently, took him a whole weekend to notice. 

I was expecting Eijirou to be a little more embarrassed by the question, he blushed pretty easily, but he just shrugged. "He said to use his first name since I knew his tragic backstory." 

Bakugou barked out a laugh, turning his red eyes back to me. "We all know your shitty backstory, you gonna give us all the pass?" 

It was a challenge, that much was obvious. I couldn't figure them out if I was being completely honest. Their dynamic confused me to no end. They butted heads constantly but always seemed to be on the same wavelength. I had never seen an oxymoron quite like them. 

"Nah, that right is reserved just for Eijirou," I shot back. 

"Picking favorites already, Deku?" he asked with a smirk as he put his helmet on. In the end, it seemed that he did decide who I rode with. 

I patted the top of his helmet as I walked past him to Eijirou's truck. "You're just mad you're not even in my top five." 

He scoffed but then seemed to think about my words for a second. I waited for the light bulb moment. 

"What the fuck? There's only five of us!" 

I laughed loudly, probably the loudest I'd laughed since moving, and shut the door. Eijirou slipped into the driver's seat right after, finding the interaction just as funny as I had. We broke into another round of laughter when Bakugou revved his bike and took off down the driveway. 

"So touchy," I said while looking out the window as he drove away. 

"Is he really not in the top five?" Eijirou asked, looking at me for only a second before his eyes were back on the road in front of us. 

"Wouldn't you like to know." 

He nodded, his crimson eyes flashing to me with amusement shining brightly. "I would, that's why I asked." 

"God, you sound like Todoroki." I chuckled at that thought. "The only difference is that he would have genuinely not understood the figure of speech." 

Eijirou raised an eyebrow at me. "Seriously? Even Kaminari gets figures of speech... most of the time." 

"Yup." I popped the p obnoxiously. "He was locked up in his house for most of his life. Hadn't met someone else his own age until he started at our school in ninth grade." 

"Seriously?" The disbelief in his tone was expected, it happened every time Todoroki's childhood was explained. 

I hummed in confirmation. "His dad was... pretty fucked up." 

We fell into a rather comfortable silence for the rest of the drive, Eijirou flipping through songs on his phone every once in a while. In just a few minutes, we were pulling into the school. Bakugou was waiting by his bike, Ashido stood next to him on her phone. I couldn't see Sero or Kaminari around. 

"He still looks pissed off," I mumbled. "I figured the drive would have cooled him off a little bit." 

"Wasn't a long or fast enough drive for that," Eijirou said with a snort, pulling into a parking spot next to the two other teens.

"All because he isn't in my top five?" I asked, looking back over at the redhead. 

Eijirou put the truck in park, turning his body so he could face me better. "Bakugou is... competitive." He had to mull over the words for a second before deciding on the best one to describe his blond friend, and something about the pause made me think there was more to the story. 

His competitive about being my favorite in the friend group? Really? He doesn't seem to care much about getting me to like him. My face must have given my thoughts away.

"About everything," Eijirou confirmed. "Even being your favorite." 

I mulled the thought over. He cares about being my favorite just because he's competitive? Even though he doesn't seem to care about being anyone else's. It just didn't sit right. 

"I don't buy it for a second," I admitted honestly. "But whatever you say." I was already climbing out of the truck. I had an experiment to run. 

"Ashido!" I called, catching the girl's attention easily. She beamed at me, waving frantically. "Who's your favorite?" I asked her. 

Her warm greeting was quickly replaced with a suspicious gaze. "Is this a trick question?" It was asked with narrowed, golden eyes. 

I shook my head quickly, a smile on my lips. "Not at all, just a question from a place of genuine curiosity." 

I risked taking a glance at Bakugou, he didn't seem to care about the conversation at all, his eyes locked on Eijirou as he made his way over. Competitive my ass.

"Hm, I'm probably closest with Kaminari, so Kaminari, final answer." She was once again smiling brightly at me, her phone long forgotten in her hand. 

I looked over at Bakugou again, but he was already looking at me. I raised my eyebrows, a challenge of my own. 

"You're such a fucking nerd," he said, pushing himself off his bike and walking right past me into the school. 

"That was... weird," Ashido said, her narrowed eyes flipping between Eijirou and me. 

I shrugged with a knowing smile, following after the blond. Just as I expected, Ashido was jumping after me, asking a million questions about what happened and why Bakugou was acting so weird. I didn't bother answering any of them, giving her and Eijirou a quick goodbye before heading off to my first class. 

I wasn't at all surprised to see Bakugou already seated when I entered the classroom. He didn't say anything as I took a seat and I didn't offer up a conversation starter either. I'd much rather spend the time trying to figure out the Rubik's cube that was Katsuki Bakugou. 

I didn't get very deep into my own thoughts before he ended up breaking the silence between us. "Your mom working tonight?" 

I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea when she gets home tonight. She stopped telling me what time she's off." 

"Figures." He was clearly annoyed with my response. 

"I saw it coming, she did the same thing back home. I was more surprised when she started telling me after we moved. It was weird," I said honestly. It was easier to talk to him like this, when he was calm and we weren't exchanging insults. It seemed too rarely happen though. "I guess running around with tatted-up twenty-somethings demotes me right back to no info."  

He actually chuckled at that. Holy shit, who reset his brain today? 

"Careful, we might try something," he responded, flashing me his signature smirk once again. Ugh, I hate when he does that. It's so hard to hate him when he looks like that. 

I shook my head at him, a small smile on my face. It was probably the most pleasant interaction we had ever had. The realization hit me just as Aizawa was walking in. 

"Are you trying to get brownie points right now?" I accused. 

"Depends," he said lazily, his eyes forward as Aizawa started the day's lesson. "Is it working?" 

If by working, you mean making my stomach do an intense gymnastics routine, then yes it is working, I thought. 

I looked up, about to retort, when I noticed him staring at me intently. "What?" Why the hell was he looking at me like that?

He ran a hand down his face, in what I think was an attempt to cover up his smile, his eyes once again on the teacher. "You mumble a lot." 

Oh my fucking god.  

I elected to ignore him for the rest of class, suddenly finding our government system absolutely fascinating for a full hour. He tried to regain my attention many times, even going as far as to throw pencils. As much as I wanted to reach over and strangle him, I didn't think I could ever look him in the eyes again. 

As soon as the bell rang, I was hightailing it out of the classroom. Whether he tried to catch up to me or not, I was safely in my second class before he'd managed it. I let out a deep breath and settled in. It looked like it was going to be a long day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was dreading lunch more than ever. It was bad enough that Bakugou had heard me, but if he told anyone else in the group, I was pretty sure I'd combust. I debated sitting somewhere else and trying to avoid the group, but that hope was squashed as soon as I entered the cafeteria. Ashido spotted me instantly and started yelling my name. 

I flipped my hood up and kept my head down as I walked over to the table, hyperaware of all the students staring at us. "Do you guys know how to not make a scene? Ever?" I asked as I sat down next to the girl. 

So far the table consisted of Ashido to my right, then Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero. Why did I always get stuck with an open seat next to me? I dropped my head onto the table as I noticed someone slip into the chair next to me. 

"Still avoiding me, Deku?" 

My response came out muffled. "'Til the day I die." 

"What'd you do this time?" Eijirou asked... well I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or Bakugou. 

"I didn't know anything, Jesus fuck." That answered my question. 

"Izuku?" 

I groaned and lifted my head when the redhead said my first name. I was weak, I knew that. "Nothing, absolutely nothing." 

Bakugou scoffed, clearly enjoying my misery. I turned my most heated glare on him. "If you say a single word, I will apply to boarding school myself." 

His smug expression remained, but he kept his mouth shut. Awe, I thought (yes, actually thought this time), he does care. Even my thoughts were sarcastic. 

"I'm totally asking about that later," Eijirou said before quickly changing the topic. He tossed a paper bag at me, which I just barely managed to catch. "Here." 

My eyes were wide as I looked between the bag and Eijirou. "Is this a joke? What the fuck is in this, Eijirou?" My voice was a little more panicked than I would have liked. Did he just throw drugs at me in the middle of school? Me of all people? That was actually just... mean, really.  

His own eyes widened as he realized where my mind must have gone. "Food! It's food, lunch. Not... that. Jesus, no." 

I let out a sigh of relief, finally opening up the bag. "Why the hell did you bring me a lunch?" I asked while grabbing out a rice ball and taking a bite quickly. I was confused, but starving. I wasn't going to turn it down. 

"Because you never bring your own, and then gag at the sight of the school lunches," he said simply. He threw another bag at Kaminari, hitting him right in the face. "Dude," Eijirou said with a laugh as the blond stared at the bag in his lap, dumbfounded. 

He perked right up, probably realizing what it was, and proceeded to dig in unceremoniously. "Thanks, bro!" he said around a mouthful of food.

"You're disgusting," Bakugou said, cringing at the sight. 

Kaminari actually swallowed his food before talking next. "Yet you continue to make lunches for me anyways." He wore a smug smile. Hitting back at Bakugou probably didn't happen for him often. 

"Do you want me to stop, sparky?" The other threatened back. Kaminari quickly realized his mistake and profusely shook his head. It was Bakugou's turn to look smug. "That's what I thought. Chew with your fucking mouth closed." 

Kaminari just quietly took another bite. 

I had already finished half the food in the bag before anyone had even noticed. 

"Jesus dude, did your mom take away the food too?" Sero asked in a joking manner. 

I shook my head while I finished chewing and swallowing the overly large bite I had just taken. "Forgot breakfast." Bite, chew, swallow. "And someone is very bitchy about being behind schedule." I looked over at Bakugou, taking another bite. 

"Shut it, that's my food you're shoving in your mouth right now," he said, flicking my forehead with one finger. 

My mouth was full as well as my hands, so all I could do was make a very angry noise. From the laughter that erupted afterward, I don't think it sounded that intimidating. I swallowed, which was no easy feat with how much food I had actually shoveled into my mouth. "I hate all of you," I muttered and took another bite. Nothing could keep me from this food, it was probably the best thing I had ever eaten, or maybe I was just hungrier than I thought-

"Oh, really?" Eijirou said in a taunting way. I nodded my head, once again having too much food in my mouth to verbally respond. He was leaning his head on his hand, Bakugou's arrogant smirk once again on his face. Jeez, they needed to stop hanging out so much. He was staring me dead in the eyes, in a way that made me feel stripped down and vulnerable. "Put your hood down then."

I knew he was trying to see my ears, trying to see my tell. In an act of defiance, since my ears were pink from the blush he'd caused and not the lying, I pulled my hoodie strings and my hood tightened around my head, leaving only my face peaking through. I flipped him off while happily taking another bite of my food. He rolled his eyes with a smile at my response.