To be honest, I'm pretty glad to have the rest of the day to myself. As much as I love my friends, last night took too much out of me. I could use a me day.

I take advantage of the empty dance floor and plug my phone into Mic's speakers. With all the training I've been doing for the Sports Festival, I haven't been able to practice my ballet outside of the studio. I run to my room to throw on my pointe shoes, then head back to the living room. Uncle Mic is working today, so I don't have to worry about distracting him.

My class is performing The Rite of Spring for the spring recital. Our teacher said our summer performance would be Giselle and she would be examining our performance this time around to determine who she wants to play the lead. I need to prove that even though I'm doing hero training, I can keep up with everyone and go even past them.

I just want to be Giselle.

So I review the choreography, slipping into my character and executing each move with accuracy and grace. Halfway through the final song, I hear the Kim Possible text tone come through the speakers, breaking my focus. I gasp as I land a bit crookedly on my left foot, but keep my composure, trying to not show any hesitation as I continue until the end.

I breathe heavily as I grab a glass of water, chugging it and retrieving my phone. I see I have an old text from our resident porcupine.

Bakugo: Whatever, Curly

Enh there's no need to respond. He'd probably get pissed if I did anyway, I think as I open my new text from Kirishima.

Kiri: Hey! I was wondering if you wanna hang out today? We can play video games or something at my house

I sigh, thinking, so much for my me day. I type out a quick response, sitting down and taking off my shoes.

Me: Yeah, sounds fun

Kiri: Coolio!! Here's my address, head on over!

I click on the attached address, pulling up a map. He lives a few towns over, so I'll have to take the train. It's actually the same town as my dance studio.

Should I just head straight from his house to practice? I don't know how long he'll want to hang out, so I might as well bring my stuff. Just in case. I don't want to have to come all the way back here.

I do a once-over of the house, making sure all the food is put away before heading to my room to grab my stuff. I throw my slippers as well as my black practice leotard, a water bottle, a clean towel, and some sweatpants into my dance bag. I glance over at my bookshelves, knowing there are some video games over there I haven't been able to play since I don't have the consoles.

Maybe he will and I can finally see what games GGG used to play, I think with excitement, grabbing a few at random and adding them to my bag.

Me: Kk on my way

I shoot him a quick text as I lace up my black Converse and head out, locking the door behind me. Putting in my headphones, I slip into a peaceful reverie as I walk down the street.

I enter the train station, swiping my card and boarding the correct train. I manage to get a seat, not too many people traveling today. I stare out the window until my stop.

A particularly energetic song comes on as I walk down the street and I can't help the bobbing motion of my head as the beat drops. I look around frantically, trying to see if anyone noticed, but the street of the small town isn't as busy as the city streets I'm used to. Grinning at myself like an idiot, I twirl mid-stride, beginning to dance down the street. The air feels refreshing on my face as I move to the music. Knowing another beat drop is coming, I run forward to the empty intersection where I know I have to turn, leaping high into the air with a split and landing gracefully in the middle of the road as the beat drops. I swing my arms around, spinning to turn down Kirishima's street. I calm my movements to just fancy footwork as I near his house, not wanting him to catch me looking stupid out in public.

I readjust the strap of my bag on my shoulder as I walk up his front steps. His family lives in a quaint tan house with a red door. It sorta reminds me of my home with Mom and Dad. I haven't seen that house in ages.

I shake my sad thoughts away as they threaten to draw tears from my eyes. I raise my hand and knock at the brightly painted door. It looks...happy, I think, examining the whole building as I wait for the door to open. Soon enough, I'm greeted by Kirishima's warm smile. He is wearing a white t-shirt and black sweatpants with a white bandana tied around his head.

"Hey Yamada! How's it going?" He greets, stepping aside for me to enter. I give him a small smile and a thumbs up. "Is your head feeling any better since yesterday?"

I nod, remembering the nauseatingly intense pain. I take off my shoes and put on the slippers he hands me.

"I figured we could hang out for a bit, then cook something for lunch," he explains, leading me up the stairs and down the hallway to what appears to be a game room mixed with a workout room. I nod, glancing around at the cream walls that are covered in motivational posters and pictures of heroes. A TV is set up on one side with a bunch of consoles and games hooked up to it. Cushions are scattered in front of it. On the other side of the room, there's a hanging punching bag and a bench press.

"Manly," I sign, smirking at him. That was one of the first things he wanted me to teach him in sign language. Surprise, surprise.

"Thanks!" He adjusts two cushions in front of the TV and plops down on one. I put my bag down by the door and drop onto the other as he rifles through a bin of games. "This is the first time I've had a girl over."

His hand stills and he looks up at me, alarmed. "I don't know why I said that!" He shouts, obviously trying and failing to hide the panic in his voice.

I giggle, covering my mouth with my hand. My face heats up for his sake, knowing that if I wasn't mute, that could've well been me last night with Todoroki. "No, I get it," I try to calm him. "I haven't actually had anyone over to my house since like fourth grade until last night when Ochaco and..." my hands still. "when Uraraka came over."

I shouldn't tell him about Todoroki. That would lead to WAY too many questions.

He visibly relaxes at this knowledge, but glances at me questioningly. "Really? That long?"

I shrug. "I was never popular. I didn't really have any friends until I moved here and met Uraraka. I would've thought you've had Ashido over at least."

His eyes widen and he starts flailing his arms. It's like he turned into Midoriya. The box of games falls to the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor. "What?!? Mina?! Why would you think that?!?" He crosses his arms awkwardly, trying to regain his cool, but I smirk as his face flushes the slightest bit. I almost don't notice it.

"I don't know. You guys seem like friends," I play it cool, just for his sake. I don't want to tease him like Ochaco and Reina did to me earlier.

"Oh, well..." he uncrosses his arms, flipping the box upright and beginning to put the games back in. "I guess we are now. We actually went to the same school, growing up, but she didn't pay me any attention. I wasn't exactly popular either. We were just a part of different crowds. But we're closer now, I guess. She's so friendly that it's hard not to be friends with her. I don't think I'm considered one of her close friends, though."

I hum in understanding and we slip into silence, knowing exactly what it's like to be so unsure of where you stand with your crush.

"I think you are," I sign, making him look at me with wide eyes while I grin at him. "She said the other day in the locker rooms that she thinks you're really cool. Not to mention you two call each other 'horn buddies,' so yeah I think she considers you a pretty close friend."

Blinking slowly, he turns back to his games, but I notice the blush dusting his cheeks. "Gotcha, umm... That's cool."

I smile at his nervousness. He's never like this usually. He's much better at hiding his feelings than I'll ever be. I reach over and pinch his cheek, forcing him to break out into a grin. We both chuckle for a moment before falling into a thoughtful silence, all awkwardness dissipated.

"Wait, you said you moved here not too long ago. Where did you live before?" He sits up, disregarding the box of games entirely.

"America."

"WHAT?!? How did I not know that?!?" He exclaims, and I shrug. A dreamy smile crosses his face. "What's it like there?"

"Well that depends where you're asking about. It's a big country. I lived sorta in the middle. It was really windy there because there weren't many hills. Summers got pretty hot and winters were equally cold. The sun was out a lot. Even in winter. I lived in a small town. Somewhere you could see the stars at night. We went to the East coast in the summer for vacation and it was always really nice. The ocean was refreshingly cool and would blow a cold breeze on the beach. We went to New England a few times which is in the Northeast. It was full of mountains and trees. We only went in the winter, so it was always snowy and the trees were bare. But I've heard it's incredible in the fall. The colors are apparently so vibrant. I want to go back sometime to experience that."

I trail off, realizing that was probably too much for him to comprehend there. He glances away from my hands with a far off look. "I lost you with some of those words, but I got your meaning. It sounds great," he smiles lazily at me as he leans back and rests his hands behind him. "How do you sign 'paradise'?"

I sign it a few times and he copies my hand movements before signing, "It sounds like paradise to me." A soft smile spreads over my face as I think back to all my positive memories of America.

"I definitely want to go someday," his words bring me back to reality. "Maybe when we're pro heroes and we have the money, we could go visit and you could show me your favorite places to go."

I nod, smiling genuinely at the thought.

After a few moments of silence, he speaks up again. "So! Whaddya wanna play?"

I shrug, then raise my hands to sign, "I actually brought some games, but I don't know if you have the right console for them."

"Oh, really? What console? I'm sure I have it!"

"I don't actually know. I haven't played them before. They're from..." I pause. He doesn't know my family situation. Gotta be careful. "They're from a family member, but they never actually gave me the console, so I haven't been able to play them."

He nods his head as I reach for my bag, only for it to be just barely too far. I scoff and roll across the floor to it, picking it up and rolling back to my cushion. I unzip the bag and take out the four disk cases, holding them out to Kirishima, but he just looks at me with an amused expression.

I cock my head to the side as he chuckles to himself. "What?"

"What was that right there?"

My eyes widen, realizing I just rolled across his floor like an idiot. "Don't worry about it," I sign, embarrassed. Our friendship so far has mostly been at school, where I'm much more reserved. I guess he hasn't seen my goofy side yet.

"Okay, you dork," he smiles and ruffles my hair. He grabs the games as I try to reorganize my curls, exasperated. After a few moments, he holds up the disk cases. "It looks like these are Wii games. I haven't played that in forever, but I have one. It's just not hooked up, so I'll do that real quick."

He stands and goes to a cabinet in his entertainment system, pulling out a white box, a bar, and a few controllers. He fiddles around with the device and the TV before sitting back down next to me, handing me a blue controller while he takes the red one. He instructs me to put the wrist strap on and how to point it at the motion bar instead of the TV. A home page shows up and he picks up the games I brought along.

"Mario Kart, fun. Mario Super Sluggers, never heard of it, but it sounds cool. And two copies of Just Dance 3. I've heard of this one I think. I haven't played it, but it sounds interesting," he lists, then glances at me. "Why would they give you two copies of the same game? That's a little odd."

I shrug, knowing GGG had multiple copies of some of her favorite movies because some had special features. I take both cases from him and look them over, checking for differences. Aha!

"This one has an additional song!" I sign, then open the case I indicated, pulling out the disk and handing it to him. He places it in the machine before grabbing the other case from my lap.

"But still... Why give you two?" He opens it and his brow furrows. "Yamada, I don't think this one is the game."

I look over his shoulder at the disk in question. Instead of the game's logo on it, it has orange paint on the top with something handwritten in marker.

"Good Times," it reads.

"What is this? Hold on." Kirishima stands up abruptly and leaves the room, leaving the case open on the floor.

GGG, what is this? Is this something you made? Am I even meant to know? Why is it in a video game case?

My friend returns a few moments later with a laptop. Sitting down next to me, he pulls the disk out of the case and inserts it into his computer. He navigates to a media player app and loads whatever's on the disk.

What am I about to uncover?

A video begins playing and my breath catches. It appears to be on a handheld camera, as the view is shaky and pointed towards the ground. "Is it on?" A girl's voice asks in English. It sounds relatively deep for a girl. Almost like Grandma's.

"Yeah, I see the little red light," an airy voice says as the camera pans up to a teenage girl, adjusting the focus. She has an extremely pale, round face, dotted with freckles on her cheeks. Her pale lips are thin and pulled back into an awkward smile. She has a wide nose and her made-up, green eyes are glancing around, trying not to look at the camera. Her long, straight hair is a light auburn with blunt bangs, though her roots suggest it is dyed that color. She is wearing a grey shirt with straps criss-crossing across her chest and lots of silver and black jewellery hanging on her neck and from her ears.

"Stop pointing it at me!" The girl squeals in her light voice. She puts a hand full of rings up to her face, trying to hide.

"Oh, come on!" The alto voice from behind the camera presses. The girl in the shot groans, letting her hand fall and rolling her eyes sarcastically before laughing and making faces at the camera.

"Does it zoom?" The airy voice from earlier asks. Suddenly, the shot is zooming in on this girl's face, specifically her eyes as she crosses them and winks, the edges crinkling in laughter.

"Apparently..." the voice behind the camera says, cracking up.

"Hold on, turn it off," the red haired girl says. "Let's go set it up before Kimmy gets here!"

The video suddenly cuts to a room. It's carpeted and has tan walls. A grey couch can be seen in the background. The camera is no longer shaking, obviously having been placed on a tripod or something. The girl from before is striking poses and making faces once more in the middle of the room. Two other girls stand behind her, one a petite dark-skinned girl with long, curly hair in a bright yellow top, and the other a tan girl of average height, a little fuller than the other two with a short brown bob, wearing a floral blouse. They laugh and smile at the camera. I notice they're holding controllers the same as the ones strapped to our own wrists.

"C'mon! Get in front of the camera, Evie!" The Indian girl says in her airy voice. That must've been who was talking before. And...

Evie.

Is that...

GGG?

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the alto voice says in exasperation as another figure emerges, gliding into the frame. She is wearing red pants with a high waist, a black shirt, and an open, grey flannel. She has medium length, blonde hair in tight french braids on either side on her head. When she turns back to the camera, my breath hitches. Her large blue eyes stare out of the screen at me. "I had to make sure it was on!"

I reach forward and press the spacebar, pausing the video. My hand covers my mouth, open in shock. Our eyes are still connected and I can't look away.

"Who sent these to you, again?" Kirishima asks from beside me. I painfully tear my eyes away from the paused video to look at him. When my gaze connects with his, his red eyes widen.

"Are you okay?!" He asks, grabbing my arms. I can't seem to do anything, so I sit there, motionless. He raises a hand to my face and I feel his calloused fingers swipe gently across my cheek.

Am I crying? Why am I crying? I unknowingly let out a sob. Why can't I stop crying? What's happening to me?!?

My eyes suddenly overflow with tears, making my vision blurry. I try to sign something, but my hands shake so bad that I can't manage to get even one word. I squeeze my eyes shut, painfully embarrassed that I'm breaking down in front of Kirishima.

I feel his arms wrap around my waist and pull me towards him. I throw mine around his neck, sobbing hysterically into his shoulder while he holds me tight. My breathing is harsh and jagged, hiccupping through my tears. One of his hands leaves my waist to be placed softly on the back of my head, playing with my hair.

"Shhh..." he whispers into my shoulder as he winds my hair around his fingers. "You're okay, I got you."

I allow myself a small smile, my breathing finally starting to even out. I think over my options about how to explain.

I don't need to tell him the full truth. I can just talk about GGG and the movies she passed down. Yeah that's enough. He shouldn't ask about anything else that way. But would I be able to sign it to him? He might not get it. Writing it would take too long. I'll just have to illuse.

"My Great-Great-Grandmother collected movies," I begin illusing from right above us. Kirishima's head whips up to look at where the voice came from and I pull away from him, clutching his forearms. He looks back down at me as I continue, "she collected so much of what she loved and she passed it down through the family. I'm the one that has it now and I love it so much. I feel like through everything I've seen and heard, I had some sort of understanding of her, but a part of me has always wondered what she was actually like. I guess when I saw her there...I couldn't stop myself from getting emotional..."

I sniffle a bit and look down at our hands. "And then of course I felt stupid for crying which made me cry even more," I add, chuckling to myself as I illuse.

"Hey, it's okay," he brings a hand to my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his comforting eyes. He smiles warmly as he wipes my cheeks again. "It's okay to cry. I'll be here for ya! Do you want to keep watching? Or would you rather continue when you're alone?" He gives the hand he still has a hold on a squeeze.

"Can we watch until the end of this clip?" I illuse. He nods, wrapping his arms around me to hold me close as he presses play and the video resumes.

"Yeah, cause you don't want to miss the embarrassment that's about to happen," the girl in the floral top, who I'm assuming is Kimmy, says in a sarcastic tone. Her voice is alto just like Evie's with a bit of a throatier sound.

The other girls laugh at her statement, adjusting their wrist straps as they point them off the screen. I'm sure there's a TV over there.

"Well it only makes sense that Just Dance is the first thing I'm filming!" Evie retorts, still chuckling. The sound is like a cat's purr to me. "I wanna look back on this someday and laugh at how awful we are!"

Kimmy groans, but the smile hasn't left her face.

"Ooh! Let's do Hit Me Baby One More Time!!!" The Indian girl squeals. I recognize the name from the playlist. Is that where it came from?

"Ugh, Diya, we do that one every time," the redhead groans.

"Dude, it's not like we can play this game and NOT do that one! It's a classic!" The girl I can now assume is Diya argues.

"Fine, but I get to pick the next one," the other girl says, brushing her bangs out of her eyes as they point their controllers at the screen and click, then rearrange the order they're standing in for some reason. They spread out and strike a pose as the song begins. I watch, intrigued as they begin dancing, each appearing to be following instructions on the screen.

Kimmy stands on the far left, only really moving the hand that holds the controller while Evie and Diya stand in the middle, going all out to move their whole bodies and the unnamed girl is on the right, dancing very stiffly, as if she doesn't know exactly how to move. Out of nowhere, a loud smack sounds and I gasp. They all turn their heads to look at the girl on the far end as she clutches her hand that just hit a wall.

"Oh my gosh, Sammy are you okay!?!?!" Diya shouts as the girl shakes off her hand and keeps playing.

"Yeah, that just hurt," the girl named Sammy says, appearing a bit frustrated. The other girls continue dancing throughout this exchange, without even looking at the screen.

Wow they played this enough times to have memorized the moves? I think, amazed.

They finish the song and begin looking for another to play. I reach forward and press the spacebar.

"This looks like it'll take a while. I'll watch the rest later," I sign to my friend. He nods, ejecting the disk and replacing it in its case.

"She definitely reminds me of you. Your eyes are practically the same. Also you guys move the same way." He smiles at me, then appears to catch himself. "I mean the way that she walks! You both walk so smoothly it's like you're just sorta gliding across the ground. I haven't seen you dance, so I can't say as far as that goes..." he smirks. "But the way you move in battle is definitely similar. We have to play this game now, I hope you realize."

We both chuckle and I nod. "Don't worry, we'll find a manlier song for you."

"Ha! Yeah that one was a little girly," he squeezes me one last time and stands, putting his laptop to the side, before he gasps and turns with a crazed look in his eyes. "What if we tricked Bakugo into dancing to that?!?"

I slap a hand over my mouth, giggling. "He'd kill us for sure," I sign. "But it would totally be worth it."

"We should invite the rest of the group over and get them to play it! It would be so fun!" I smile, nodding at him as he hops up and down, excited by this idea. "After lunch, though. We have to practice so we're better than them by the time they get here."

"Oh, of course," I sign, feigning seriousness, but I can't hold back a laugh at our devious plan.

"Maybe I'll finally be able to beat Bakugo at something," he twists the controller in his hands as I stand up and move the cushions to the pile in the corner. "I can never beat him at video games. He's just too good! This would put him out of his element for sure. I might have a chance to actually win." He clenches his fist in front of him with a determined expression.

I nod, pensively. I'm sure with my dancing background, this won't be too hard. I could destroy him at this game. I smirk and Kirishima cocks his head to the side, his large smile revealing his pointy teeth. "Just thinking about how angry he's gonna get."

Somehow, his smile gets even wider. "I know! I can't wait! Let's start practicing!" He stands in front of the TV and navigates the menu, opening the game.

As the game loads, I am taken aback by all the songs I recognize from the playlist. She must've added them after her mom passed down the iPod. Or maybe they're all just that popular that everybody back then knew them.

Kirishima decides we should just go through the whole list, considering there aren't too many, so he chooses the first song, California Gurls. It instructs us to keep space between us and follow the person on the screen's moves, showing a little diagram in the bottom right about the next move.

We warily get into position as the song begins, a character displayed on the screen. She is glowing white with a red romper on, her red hair tied back into a ponytail, and with a red glove on the hand that must match the controller. From what we saw in the video, you should only have to match that hand, but what fun would that be?

We begin dancing along. The song doesn't seem to be too difficult to dance to, but it takes me a while to understand just how much time passes before I move onto the next move. I'm shocked at some of the moves this woman is doing, still completely committing to them, but out of the corner of my eye, I see Kirishima is struggling to move his hips the way she is. I'm astounded that he is even continuing to play as she begins prancing across the screen, him following her every move. He's still giving it his best effort and for that I applaud him as the song ends.

"Thanks," he says, letting out a sigh. "This is a workout, I'm gonna get some water. You want any?" I nod and he leaves the room. I examine our scores. I got three stars while the poor boy barely got one.

It's gonna take a lot more before we can beat Bakugo, I think to myself.

For the rest of the morning, we practice, eventually getting good enough to get five stars on some songs, though I still get three on a couple. I beat Kirishima most of the time, though.

"How are you so good at dancing?" He pants as he sits down on the floor. I'm breathing heavily, but this child looks like he's about to bust a lung. I guess dancing is good endurance training, I think, picking up my water glass.

"Well, I am a dancer," I illuse a voice while I drink.

"WHAT?!? Okay now I feel like a terrible friend for knowing like nothing about you!" I wave him off, signaling that he's fine.

"That's actually where I'm going after this. I have rehearsal." I point to my bag while taking another sip of water. "Also you shouldn't sit after dancing. That's like one of the first things they teach you."

He groans and flops onto his back. "Happy now? I'm not sitting anymore."

I giggle and extend a hand to him, helping him stand, not that he really needs it. He's just being lazy. "We should make something for lunch," he suggests and I nod.

We make our way to his kitchen and I take in more of his house. Pictures line the walls of a happy family. I'd recognize the little red-eyed, shark-toothed boy anywhere, but in these pictures, his hair is floppy and black. As I follow my friend, I examine his spiky hair closer. The work he must do to keep his hair like that all the time...

We enter the kitchen and he begins rifling through the fridge. The appliances are stainless steel and the counters are black marble on top of chestnut cabinets, the walls painted a light blue. I sigh at the coziness the whole house seems to offer. Since moving in with Uncle Mic, I've had to adjust to the more modern, futuristic, playboy bachelor pad sort of style. It warms my heart to be back in a home with an inviting familiarity about it. Reina's house always feels sterile and empty despite the size of her family, as they're all pretty much neat freaks and Ochaco's house is small and quaint, their slim income preventing them from having many luxuries, but Kirishima's house...it reminds me of my own.

"Enh, I don't know what we can make from this..." he trails off, opening the fridge for me to see. I examine the food, searching for inspiration. "Bakugo's better at this than I am," he sighs. "He can always come up with something. Should I invite him over?"

I emerge from the fridge, arms full of ingredients. His eyes widen as I set them down on the counter and turn back to him. "You can if you want, but I think I've got this covered." I wash my hands as he puts down his phone to examine my process.

I gesture a circle out in front of me, seeing as I left my whiteboard upstairs in my bag. Kirishima seems to catch my meaning and grabs out a sautée pan. I gesture for a bowl as well and he takes out one. I pour some leftover rice, carrots, broccoli, scallions, bok choy, and bean sprouts into the bowl. I crack an egg as my friend hands me a wooden spoon. I take it with a warm smile as I begin stirring the mixture, adding panko breadcrumbs once everything is coated with egg.

I put the pan on the heat and add a pad of butter. Waiting for it to melt, I turn back to my friend. "When you invite everyone over, you should also invite Mina. I'm sure she'd have fun."

He looks at me with a wary expression, contemplating whether or not I'm trying to tease him. He seems to determine that I'm not and just nods, looking down at his phone. "I'll tell them to come over at 12:30, yeah?"

I nod, turning back to the pan that is now coated in butter. I use the spoon to scoop clumps of the mixture up and form them into patties, placing them in the pan which crackles at contact. After putting the last one of this batch in the pan, I gesture for a spatula, lowering the heat slightly so they cook all the way through and don't burn.

Kirishima looks through multiple drawers before he finds the one he's looking for, taking out a metal spatula and handing it to me. Taking it, I wait, keeping a keen eye on the patties.

"Welp, Bakugo's bored, so he's coming over now. Hope there's enough for him," he says from behind me. I shrug, looking at the bowl with the rest of the mixture in it. There should be plenty, but if not, he can just make something for himself.

After flipping the patties, I look through the fridge again, grabbing a couple things, making a quick sauce in a small bowl. I grab a couple paper towels, dropping the patties onto them and rolling them around to remove excess grease, then sprinkle some salt on top and put them on the plate Kirishima had placed in front of me. I gesture for him to start eating, but he just shakes his head.

"What kinda man would I be if I didn't wait for you?" He leans against the counter, seemingly not bothered by the prepared lunch beside him. He watches me cook the last of the food before grabbing the plate and the bowl with the sauce, leading me to the dining room.

This is really the only glaring difference between my old home and Kirishima's. They always eat in the dining room while our family was more likely to eat at the kitchen table or right at the counter.

We begin digging in, breaking off pieces of the crispy rice patty to dip in the sauce. I nod in approval of my own work. I'm usually used to a wider variety of ingredients to work with, seeing as Mic and I tend to go to an American market as well, so I'm impressed at what I could come up with on the fly. To be honest, I just wanted something crispy and fried.

There's a loud knock at the door and Kirishima rushes to get it. "Hey man! How's it going?" I hear his voice call from the door.

"Those damn extras on the train wouldn't stop trying to talk to me. Bringing up the fucking festival like that! Useless fucking win. Screw that damn icy-hot bastard!" The growling voice becomes louder and louder as they walk towards the dining room. I swallow the food in my mouth as a very angry Bakugo marches in. Still angry about Todoroki, huh?

His eyebrows hop from their place clouding his eyes up into his spiky hair as he makes eye contact with me. "The fuck is she doing here?"

I put on a sweet smile and wave, resulting in him scowling even further than before.

"Dude, honestly, you gotta relax sometimes. We were hanging out and we thought we should invite you and the rest of the squad over."

"What is that?" His lip raises in disgust, looking at our half eaten lunch.

"Food! Yamada made it! It's really good, you should have some!" Kirishima claps his friend on the back as he returns to his seat, picking up another patty and dipping it into the sauce.

"Can't be any fucking better than what I make from the shit in your kitchen," he growls, taking the seat next to Kiri and taking a bite out of one of the crispy patties. "This is bland as shit," he says after a few moments of chewing, standing up and retreating to the other room.

Where...?

My question is answered in a few moments when he comes back into the room with hot sauce, dousing his unfinished patty. He takes another bite and nods in approval.

"Now it's not trash," he growls. I roll my eyes at his attempt at a compliment.

"So Yamada brought over this video game and I have to say..." Kirishima smirks, "I think you're gonna meet your match."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?" Bakugo screams through a mouth full of food.

"You're totally not going to win," Kiri sits back, crossing his arms, obviously enjoying seeing his friend get fired up about Just Dance.

"ARE YOU UNDERESTIMATING ME, SHITTY HAIR?!?" The table shakes as he stands to lunge at our red haired friend.

I sit back on the other side of the table, grabbing yet another piece of food to nibble on while they fight.

"SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!!" His right hand ignites with small explosions.

With a smirk, Kirishima responds calmly, "You. Can't. Beat. Her."

Thanks for putting a target on my back!

"SHUT UP AND WATCH ME!!!" Suddenly, Bakugo is off the floor and coming for me. He grabs my wrist with one hand and takes the last patty with his other one. "Just for that, I'm taking this," he growls, holding up the food before shoving the whole thing into his mouth.

He drags me halfway out of the room before making a sound of disgust and walking back to the table. He takes the hot sauce bottle and pours some directly into his mouth. Finally satisfied with the spice level, he pulls me up the stairs. As nervous as I am about him clutching onto my arm with a death grip, I'm also excited to see him fail at this game.

"Woah, Bakugo! Chill out bro!" Kirishima calls out from behind us. "The others will be here in a few minutes. You can play against them first. She probably needs a break before playing again."

"What're you talking about?!? She's going to play against me right now! And I'm going to win!" He yanks my wrist, making me trip up the stairs. "Keep up, Curly!!"

I fight to stand up again, but he's going too fast, so I just let him drag me until we reach the top. I'll have holes in the knees of these leggings, I sigh.

There's a knock at the door, so Kirishima goes to answer that while Bakugo pulls me into the game room. He turns, letting go of my arm when we get there, looking down the hallway. "Where'd Shitty Hair go?" He grumbles.

"To answer the door," I sign, also looking down the hallway for my friend to save me from this nightmare.

"You know I don't understand that," the porcupine growls.

"You know I don't believe you," I sign back, raising an eyebrow at him.

He knew that I needed to be brought to the bathroom yesterday at the festival. He can't be that good of a guesser. He's no doubt smart enough to pick up on what I've been teaching the other guys. He just doesn't want to admit it.

"Tch. Whatever, Mute," he looks away to the TV. "Wii? I don't know what kinda retro shit you're playing, but I'm gonna destroy you."

He bends down and picks up a remote, putting it on his wrist before chucking the other one at me. I catch it, but don't put it on.

The rest of them need to play first. I need to be able to sit back and laugh.

"Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so much fun!!" Mina comes jumping and squealing into the room, followed by the rest of the guys.

"Why'd you invite Raccoon Eyes?" Bakugo growls.

"Lighten up, dude. She's chill," Kaminari says, plopping down on the floor.

"You're gonna have to get back up. You gotta stand to play this game," Kirishima says, grabbing two more controllers and handing them to Kaminari and Sero. I hand mine to Mina.

"Hey! Put that on, Mute! I need to destroy you!" Bakugo screams at me, but I shrug, picking up two cushions and plopping them down to the side of the players. Looking around, I notice Kirishima left, so I help the new three put on the wrist straps and hold the controllers correctly. You wouldn't think holding the controller differently would make that much of a difference, but it definitely does.

My red haired friend walks back into the room and, using the controller in Sero's hand, selects Hit Me Baby One More Time, then tells them to select their players and explains they have to follow the screen.

"What the hell are you playing at? I'm not doing this!" Bakugo growls, fiddling with the wrist strap.

"What's wrong? Scared you're gonna lose?" Kaminari taunts.

I watch, amused as Bakugo seems to have an internal battle with himself, making inhuman noises. Kirishima sits down next to me and pulls out a camera he was hiding behind his back.

"Of course I'm not scared!! I'm gonna destroy all of you damn nerds!!" He fumes. I look over to see Kirishima has already started recording, zooming in on his friend's angry face. I stifle a giggle and watch as Bakugo puts Kaminari in a chokehold until he gives up the purple character.

"HIT PLAY!!! I'M READY TO BEAT YOU ALL TO A PULP!!!!"

Sero jumps and presses the start button. Each of them struggle as the song starts, not really understanding the premise. Mina is the first one to get ahold of the controls and her score rockets ahead of the others. She's actually a pretty good dancer.

Bakugo surprisingly tries to dance fully in sync with his character, but remains very stiff, never releasing his angry face. To his dismay, his score isn't increasing as much as everyone else's. I guess his dancing isn't up to par yet. He continues to forcibly do the dance moves on the screen and I can't hold back my laughter anymore.

Meanwhile, Sero is keeping his movements a bit more toned down than the other two. He seems to be making sure to pay more attention to his hand than the rest of his body, but he still tries to move at least sort of like his character.

Kaminari on the other hand...

He has noticed us taking a video and so, with a cheeky grin, just starts dabbing instead of actually dancing. Kirishima and I watch in hysterics as his score begins shooting up as well.

Bakugo rages as he falls into last. "DAMMIT!!! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU FUCKING PIKACHU?!? QUIT CHEATING AND PLAY THE DAMN GAME!!!" I collapse onto Kirishima, struggling for breath as his movements become even more violent.

Bakugo violently dancing to Britney Spears. This has to be the greatest day of my life.

"Yay! I won!" Mina cheers as the song comes to an end.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Bakugo clutches his head, staring at the screen. He turns his deadly glare to Kaminari who is suddenly much less excited to get second. In a moment, the poor boy has the explosive cactus in his face.

"YOU BASTARD!! YOU DON'T DESERVE VICTORY IF YOU DON'T ACTUALLY TRY!!"

Before he can do any damage, I try to compose myself, walking over to them. I take hold of Bakugo's right wrist, narrowly avoiding a slap to the face, and pry his fingers from the controller, turning it slightly in his hand before having him grasp it again.

"Try like this," I sign, turning back to my seat.

"She said to try it like that!" Kaminari chimes from next to the angry porcupine.

"I KNOW WHAT SHE SAID, YOU FUCKING DUNCE FACE!!" Bakugo spats in his face.

I knew it.

He then grabs my shoulder and roughly turns me around. "YOU'RE PLAYING ME AFTER I DESTROY THESE LOSERS, GOT IT?"

I shrug and nod, knowing I can't avoid playing him forever. Nobody fights him as he goes through the songs and picks I Was Made For Loving You where the characters are a little more his style. He of course chooses to be the lead singer, grumbling that he would've picked the drummer, but he wasn't dancing as a girl again. Mina ends up being the drummer, Kaminari chooses the lead guitarist, and Sero is the bass player.

Kirishima and I begin laughing again as they mime playing their air instruments while Bakugo pretends to sing. When it comes to his solo, without hesitation, he drops to his knees, raising his hands to the sky. On the sidelines, Kiri and I absolutely lose it. A strange cackle comes out of my mouth and I cover it with my hand, embarrassed, but can't keep myself from laughing along with everyone else at the sudden outburst.

When's the last time I've laughed that hard?

The song ends and Mina is clutching her side from laughter. Sero wipes some tears from his eyes as he chuckles with the rest of us. Bakugo seems to be the only one concerned with the scores, raising his hands to the sky when his winning score of three and a half stars is displayed.

"Fuck yeah! I beat all of you nerds!" He points at his other competitors.

"It wasn't exactly a technically demanding dance," Kaminari collapses on the floor on the other side of Kirishima, still laughing.

"SHUT UP, DUNCE FACE!" He turns his ruby glare to me and a pit of unease grows in my stomach. "Your turn, Curly. It's time you see who's really the indisputable winner of this game," he growls.

"Good luck," Mina says, handing me her controller as I stand and she takes my seat.

"We're playing this one," Bakugo growls, selecting Pump It as I step up to the TV.

This is less of a lyrical dance, so I have to get into the hip hop state of mind. I quickly shake out my joints as he presses start and adjust the controller. Thank goodness it's one of the ones Kiri and I were practicing before.

The song begins and I quickly pull into the lead. I hear growls of annoyance from my opponent as the song continues and my score becomes even further ahead.

"Woooo! You got this Yamada!" Mina cheers from her seat. My face heats up, super conscious of the fact that I'm dancing in front of my classmates against an opponent who could kill me with one hit.

I push their cheers out of my mind and just focus on the game, following the instructions on the screen.

When the bridge of the song comes, I am shocked to see Bakugo shaking along with the dancer on screen. He's being pretty violent, but he's not terrible. I allow myself a smirk at how stupid we must look.

Something inside me eases, knowing he can't make fun of how I look playing this game when he's doing the same exact thing. I ease into the moves a little more, letting myself finally have fun for the rest of the song.

When our round ends, I hear cheers and whistles from our audience. "Get it girl!" Mina shouts.

"All hail the mighty warrior to dethrone Bakugo!!" Kaminari cheers and begins bowing down to me, the others quickly following suit.

I blush, becoming very self conscious once more, and turn back to see Bakugo gaping at the TV.

He only scored 3 stars.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET FIVE STARS?!?" He gets in my face, forcing me to lean my head back as I look at him with wide eyes. My heart rate increases, pumping only one thing through my veins.

Fear.

"Maybe it's because she's actually a dancer," Kirishima interjects.

"Oh really?!?" Mina squeals, jumping up. "I am too!!"

"SIT DOWN, RACCOON EYES!! WE'RE HAVING A REMATCH, RIGHT NOW!!!" Bakugo spats.

I try to calm my heart by taking a few breaths. "Actually I'm gonna sit down for a bit," I sign and turn away. He reaches out to grab me, but I jump away. "Play against Kirishima. You haven't beaten him yet either."

He scoffs as I toss my controller to the redhead in question. "Like it won't take me one try to destroy your sorry ass."

"Yeah I'm sure you're used to destroying his ass," Kaminari mumbles from his seat, snickering as Bakugo's face becomes a fiery red, the vein in his forehead looking although it's about to burst. All of us laugh, including Kirishima, despite being at the receiving end of that burn as well.

"I WILL REMOVE YOUR EYELIDS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!!!!"

That's...incredibly graphic. We all shudder at his threat.

Much to Bakugo's dismay, it takes him three rounds to finally score higher than his friend, them being neck and neck for all of Forget You until he finally pulls forward at the end. He grins smugly as Kirishima returns to his seat, pouting. I rub circles on his back, comforting him on his loss.

"You have to win it for us, Yamada!" He clenches his fist and looks at me, determined. I glance up at my opponent and have to fight back a shiver of fear at the cold glare he's sending at me.

"I can do this all day, Curly. Better to get this out of the way now," he growls. I stand and take the controller from my red haired friend as they all cheer me on.

I flip through the songs and land on I Don't Feel Like Dancing. I click on it and force myself to relax, feeling the music as it previews.

"Don't cry when you lose," he taunts with a confident smile, but I surprise him by returning one of my own.

And so, we dance and I win. And he demands a rematch. And I win. This continues on for a while before I hear an alarm on my phone. Throwing my remote to Kaminari, I walk over and pick up my bag.

"What're you doing, Mute? I have to beat you in this game! Get back here!" Bakugo shouts, obviously frustrated.

I shrug at his anger and sign, "sorry, but I have to be somewhere."

"What was that?" Mina leans over to Kirishima to ask. He translates as he stands up and removes the disk from the console, earning many protesting cries.

He puts it back in the case and hands it to me so I can return it to my bag. "What time does rehearsal end?"

"Seven," I sign, walking towards the door.

"You should come back afterwards! We can get something to eat and watch some movies! We still don't have school tomorrow, so we can stay up a little later, right?" I pause in the doorway, looking at their expectant faces (except for Bakugo who's still scowling at me).

I hesitate, not sure if I should accept his offer. I would have to go back home to take a shower and clean up. I don't want them to be waiting on me. "It would be a little later cause I would have to go home first. I don't want you guys to have to wait for me."

"Oh c'mon, please?!?" Kaminari implores from his seat.

Ugh why do I feel bad now?

I sigh and nod, not responding to their cheers of success. "But don't wait for me for dinner. I'll eat whatever's leftover."

"Yeah yeah, I wasn't gonna wait for you anyway," Bakugo growls. "Just bring the game when you come back, got it?"

I smirk at his determination to beat me. "Maybe," I sign, turning and walking back down the hallway.

I half expect to be chased, but I'm glad that I'm not. I tie my shoes at the door and take one last glance up the stairs, listening to my friends' bubbly laughter, before closing the door behind me.

------Author's Note------

To be honest, I really wanted to upload this one for Bakugo's birthday, but I had spaced out my uploads poorly, so here it is now.

Let me know what you guys thought of this crazy chapter. It was definitely fun to write and I got to reminisce about my days playing Just Dance nonstop with my friends.

Also, what's your favorite song on Just Dance? Which do you always choose when you play?

Anyways, stay safe! Love you all!!!