I'm not dead lmao sorry for the absence. Life is ass.

Whilst we're here, I'd like to give a huge shoutout to Lily Collier. She and her friend have been fans of my book for a hot second and deserve some love, so this chapter is dedicated to her for sure. Thank so much for reading, and Lily, I hope you enjoy this one especially. 

Third person pov

They loved him. They absolutely adored Kirishima. That being said, how could they not? Even Harper could feel and see the appeal. Cute face, red hair, earnest smile, polite, bright eyes, cheerful, upbeat. They fit right in with her parents. Maybe that's why Harper got on with him so well. She was already used to the type and comfortable with it. At home with it, you could even say. It made her happy to see her parents interact with him as they all ate in a separate dining area. Kota was sitting in her lap, hugging her around her middle while she shoveled food into her mouth. Tiger was their best chef, and Ragdoll and Pixie-bob were his right and left hands. Mandalay couldn't cook for shit.

Harper felt herself starting to sink in the familiarity of it all as the evening progressed. There was something different about a homecooked meal from someone you were close to. That, and nobody in Tsukuachi's apartment could cook for shit. Except for Sansa, but all his recipes involved the use of alcohol in one way or the other. Beer battered fish, skillet chicken in white wine sauce, angel pasta with spicy vodka sauce. It was really endless with him. Besides, it barely counted as homemade when he was drunk the entire time he was cooking. They really needed to force him into rehab. 

"You've made so many friends! I'm so proud of you." Akiara exclaimed, beaming at her daughter. It was sort of astounding to see her. She looked older, most of her baby fat having vanished in the months they'd been apart. The woman wasn't sure she'd ever seen her daughter look so tired. Not since she was a child, anyway. Though that was concerning, she also seemed a bit brighter than before. Happier. Stressed, absolutely, but Akiara and Elijah could both see content she was next to this redheaded fellow she'd introduced them too. "I can't believe it! All it took was her getting kidnapped again for her to finally bring someone home."

Joking aside, they were beyond relieved to see her. The few times they'd gotten to talk to her, she'd sounded exhausted. Seeing her now, they could see that she was tired, but there was a lot more there. She seemed happier. A lot happier, actually-- it was sort of astonishing to see how far she'd come, but relieving at the same time. Both the Rye parents felt their own swell of pride grow and blossom out within them. Harper was so strong, and now she was honing that strength. It was amazing. They were so lucky to have such an amazing daughter. 

"I can hear you, you know." Harper grumbled, unable to stop herself from smiling just slightly at her mother's comment. The woman stuck her tongue out in retaliation. 

"Are you two dating, then? Harper is sitting within a foot of you. That must mean something." Elijah wiggled his eyebrows at Kirishima, whose face flushed a shade of red that matched his hair. Kota turned to give the redheaded teen a glare, not seeming too happy with the idea of Harper dating him. Despite his lax approach to it, Harper's dad wasn't all that happy with the concept either. "My baby girl with this guy. He's nice, I like him, but is he worthy? If offered Thor's hammer, could he lift it? Does he prefer chicken or turkey on his sandwiches? These are important fucking questions, and I don't have answers!"

"N-N-No, we're not!" Kirishima squeaked. Harper sighed as the boy fidgeted, glancing at her as though she didn't already know about his crush. "Oh my god, her dad said that. In front of Harper. Someone kill me now. Why's this happening? Her parents probably hate me!" 

"Leave him alone." Harper snorted, setting down her fork down. "Class is about to go to the hot springs, and I smell like shit. Harras him when I don't smell like blood and sweat." 

Her parents had the audacity to look at least slightly sheepish, but it wasn't much. Kirishima looked grateful, though he definitely didn't want to go to the hot springs. Knowing about Mineta and his predatorial ways, she couldn't exactly blame him. Not to mention Kirishima knew that every time Bakugo glared at Izuku, it wasn't out of sheer hatred and annoyance, but instead sexual desire. Harper shivered thinking about it. Thank god the girls in their class weren't on that level of crazy. Ochako had a thing with milk, and Hagakure was intense as hell, but they made due. 

"Alright, alright. We'll lay off. You two look beat." Her dad allowed as Harper stood, Kota hanging off her front like a koala. "It's so good to see her again. I can't wait to watch her train! I never thought I'd see the day, but she's going to be just like her aunts and uncle. It's just insane!" 

"Yeah, it was pretty intense out there. Who knows how long it would've taken had Harper not led us out of there." Kirishima gave a sheepish grin as he stood, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Harper could tell he thought her parents were, in his thoughts, 'the absolute coolest', but he was still cautious. He was afraid they didn't like him, or would stop liking him if he made a single wrong move. Which wasn't wrong per se, he just didn't need to concern himself with it was all. "Phew. I'm totally exhausted! I'm surprised Harper is still awake to be honest. She looks at ease enough to fall asleep right here and now."

He also wasn't wrong there. Kirishima picked up on a lot more than anyone gave him credit or, that was for sure.

Harper let her mom coo over her a bit more and squeeze her, and she let her dad do the same. Kirishima bowed and gave a long-winded thank you. Kota didn't want to let go. Harper peeled him off of her slightly to see his eyes were red and puffy, so she put him back and patted his back. If he could hold on by himself, that was fine. Even if her back and legs hurt like a bitch. Just what had her aunts been thinking, tossing them off a cliff? Yeah, they'd done it to other classes in the past, but really? Fuck family bonds. That shit clearly didn't matter. She'd get them back. With her quirk, the amount of blackmail she had was insane. 

She and Kirishima walked out to meet the rest of the class. Harper didn't expect the reception she received. The girls descended down upon her like a starving hawk might a mouse. Hagakure grabbed one of her arms, and Mina grabbed the other. As though they thought she was going to resist. Who in their right fucking mind was going to resist premium hot springs after trekking through the woods for four-plus hours? Certainly not her, but they could drag her if they wanted. She watched Ochako peel Kota off her and hand him over to Kirishima, offering a sigh and a half-hearted salute.

Kota looked reasonably pissed, narrowing his eyes at Momo like she was the enemy as the girl apologized for the interruption before they started to cart Harper away. Kirishima gave a grin and a nod, watching Harper's facial expression for some sort of call to help. If she needed someone to intervene, he was sure he could cause a scene! However, she looked resigned to be taken. 

"Wow, they really aren't showing any mercy." Izuku laughed awkwardly as Harper was dragged off to what was quite possibly her death. Kirishima felt his cheeks redden. Hot springs... he'd been so focused on Mineta, he hadn't even thought about it. No, he shouldn't think about it! Harper might hear! "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Who knows. I don't understand anything about girls." Kaminari sighed. His cheeks flushed. "Though, their hot spring is right next to ours. Do you think-"

Iida's astounded shout could probably be heard from miles away. Kirishima couldn't blame Harper for being tired all the time. He looked down at Kota in his arms, and the little boy looked back with a grumpy expression. They both shook their heads. It went unspoken that this was going to be a long night.

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

Harper was still in a semi-good mood from seeing her parents, and that couldn't easily be ruined. Just like she couldn't be cheered up in the blink of an eye, it took time for the rain to ruin her parade. She allowed herself to be dragged all the way down the hall and to the hot springs. She actually gave them directions to it. It was one of the things she'd missed most aside from her family. This entire training ground was like a resort to her. To most, it was obscure and may even be considered roughing it, but to Harper it was a luxury. No towns for miles upon miles. Acres of woodland to get lost in, away from anyone and everyone's invasive thoughts. All there was out there was the faint chatter of the wildlife's urges, bleeding into her quirk. What she'd give to have that at her fingertips again.

"Come on, ladies! Let's strip!" Mina cackled. "It's time for gossip! Boy talk galore. Harper's been super close with Kirishima lately, and we haven't even got to interrogate her about it! We all thought she was into Iida, but she's been giving him some space. I wonder if something happened between them. Even Ochako doesn't know, and she's hanging out with Iida and Midoraiya all the time!" 

"It smells great in here, ribbit. Is the water infused with something?" Tsuyu asked, glancing over at Harper as the girl tossed her shoes into a cubby. "She knows this place better than any of us. I wonder what it's like to come back here. Must be pretty crazy. She seems happier, though." 

"There are bath salts dissolved in the water. I think the smell is meant to help relax your muscles or something like that." Harper shrugged. The girls all ooed. Harper sniffed. She'd never been one for gossip, but she could feel Hagakure and Mina boring holes into her back. "You do know the boys are just next door, right? They'll be able to hear all the shit we say."

"Not if we whisper!" Hagakure exclaimed. "I want tea, I get tea. Nothing is going to stop me. Certainly not some measly penis-bearers." 

"Yes! I'm sure if we keep our voices down and sit as far away from the barrier as we can get, they won't be able to hear our gossip." Momo smiled, looking nearly smug. "Not that I really have any interest in boys. I am interested to hear if any of my friends have crushes, however! I just love girl talk! I wonder if Ochako will talk about Izuku again! She hasn't brought him up since that time in the locker rooms, and I've been just dying to know..."

Harper sighed. How had she survived school up until this point? She genuinely wanted to know so she could apply it to other aspects of her life. She could already feel the spine-snapping hug Kurogiri was going to give her. Harper was going to need the power of every existing higher power to back her when she got back. She could almost hear the thoughts from here. Why was the most dangerous part of this entire summer camp her return? Maybe Tsukuachi will have forced Sansa into rehab by the time she was back. That would be one less headache to deal with, at least. Several less actually. He was eccentric and stressful. Harper wondered if Sero and Stain were okay. 

They all stripped and waded into the water. Harper had grown up in these waters, so she didn't have any trouble going all the way in immediately. Mina and Hagakure both had to dip their toes in first, and Ochako, Momo, and Jiro were all gradual in their getting in. The only one able to immediately join Harper in sitting on the submerged rock benches was Tsuyu. The frog-like girl seemed to love the heated water. Harper had to agree. She let herself sink in until only her nose and up were sticking out.

The boys were loud on the other side of the sturdy fence, piling in and splashing boisterously while Iida shouted at them to get in single-file. Jiro snorted and shook her head. Harper shared that sentiment. She searched out for Kirishima's thoughts only to accidentally run into Bakugo's, which almost made her drown. Then she ran into Mineta's and wondered if she should've waited to bathe. Just... wow. Tokoyami was screaming teenagers by MCR in his head, and Koda was thinking about murder again. Lovely. 

"I am sam. Sam I am. I really like green eggs and ham." Shoji pondered. Kaminari's Wii music was ramping into overdrive, and it was actually starting to concern her. Was he okay? He sounded moments away from short-circuiting. Maybe she should tell Aizawa to keep an eye on the guy. With how much he seemed to adore all of them, he'd probably be happy to force the electric teen into the infirmary for a check-up. 

"The water droplets on my skin... sparkle!" Aoyama flopped back into the water. Harper could feel it. "I am alive! What a blessed day!"

"Wow, Kacchan's abs..." Izuku shook his head. "No! I can't think like that! If he caught me staring, he'd totally kill me! I need to think about something else. Oh no, he's glaring at me. Did he see me? He knows!"

"Holy shit, Kirishima's abs are rock hard." Mineta drooled. "If Sero were here, I bet I could get him to choke me with his tape. God, I'd-"

"Alright." Harper sighed, sitting up. That was enough of that. She didn't want to recall Sero's weird tape bondage thing. In fact, she'd rather not think about Sero while she was naked at all. That was just weird. The other girls all turned to look at her. "Who wants to talk about... boys or some shit?"

They stared at her like she was crazy. Harper grimaced. It clearly wasn't what they'd been expecting from her of all people, but Mineta's thoughts were so loud. He wasn't the only one having gay thoughts either! Though their class wasn't completely full of all perverts, not everyone was straight. Jiro was eyeballing Momo a bit and trying her best not to and be respectful, but it just happened. It was human nature. Harper was thinking about Kirishima's abs now. He had some killer thighs too; it was just a fact.

"...I really didn't expect you to be the one to bring that up!" Mina chirped. Momo nodded in agreement. "She must definitely have a crush!" 

"Oi!" A voice boomed from beyond the fence. A fist pounded against it, causing the entirety of it to shake. Ochako and Hagakure let out squeals of moderate terror, and Mina sunk down far into the water with wide eyes. Harper's brows rose. "You better not be bringing up shit about me, you bitch!"

"Shut the fuck up, Bakugo! Not everything is about your sorry ass!" Harper shouted back at him, eye twitching. Jiro laughed into her hand. "I'm not saying shit about you. I was going to talk about Kirishima's legs!"

"Wh-What?!" Kirishima shrieked. "Me? Like, me? And my legs? What's wrong with my legs? Holy shit, something has to be wrong with them. Are my knees jacked up or something? I can't check because then Mineta is going to stare!"

Mina burst out laughing, and Jiro followed. Harper sighed, bringing a hand up to massage her temples. She was glad to provide comedic relief and to drown out the gay thoughts coming from beyond the fence, but she really needed a nap. 

~
Severely belated Art: 

Everyone go check out disturbedsquirrel please. She does so much art and I could never even HOPE to fit it all in here. She's so amazing and I just--- I cannot express how much I love her lmao. She did this meme below and it's currently my wallpaper everywhere guys she'd STUNNING

Okay okay let's see some more very belated art below 

This is by KARMA on Discord. I tried to hunt down their Wattpad username, but I'm not sure they posted it. Pretty sure I'm just an idiot but-- anyway, they did this amazing piece for Mind Reader For Hire, and I just love it! They got her expression spot on and just-- thank you so much for this! 

SansShipper did these awesome sketches of Harper! I love that she used orange tones because I feel like that color and those like it just really match her personality for some reason. Thank you so much for this! They both look amazing and the way you drew her hair is stunning. Not to mention the shading on the necks of both just looks really cool for some reason idk why I just love them. Again, thank you!

peeachyteaa did this absolutely AMAZING illustration of Harper. She's so talented and just-- I love everything about this. You got the hair and her expression spot on for this and your art style is so soft and clean. Your illustration skills too-- the shading and the way you did the lighting I just CANNOTTTTTTtttTTtttT okay. Thank you so much for this and for everyone reading this, check her out on Instagram at lovi.skies please!

SomethingGacha did this awesome illustration of Harper and can I just say that her style is literally the cutest? It's borderline chibi, but not at the same time. I really adore it. You can see how hard she worked not the costume and the shading. The hair looks perfect and her eyes are especially spot-on. Her eyes are definitely something people seem to struggle to get but you nailed them! Thank you loads for this!

wwisteria-san illustrated this awesome Harper! Her expression is so accurate, not to mention the way you drew her hair is awesome. The cat outlines nd the way her jacket falls off her shoulder truly pulls this one together flawlessly, and the detail in the hair just-- thank you so much! This looks amazing! 

Insomni_shit drew and illustrated this amazing Harper. The expression and the way she shaded is absolutely amazing! I also love how messy the hair is and how the ears look. There's a lot of detail in them and in the face and I just adore it. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!

Loliruinku sketched the moment Harper realized Sero was the traitor and I think she got it down. The expression and the way she's sweating is beyond accurate and her anatomy is so good! Thank you a million times over for this! I also like how you wrote "Traitor?!" behind her. It truly pulls this one all together. 

gggGGuuGuuuYSSS I don't remember if I posted this one, but AreinYuni drew and illustrated Harper and Kirishima and I'm in love with it! Thank you so much for this I just--- I cannot I love it so much. Thank you so, so, SO much for this. You did an amazing job as always (': I'll never be over your art style it's the cutest thing ever.